The Titan
by Nate Sindel
Summary: Something has landed on Earth with the sole purpose of destroying it, if he could remember that is.  It is done.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.  
  
Okay, this is my first Teen Titans' fic, so if anyone has any sort of information that could help me out, that would be great.  
  
" " speech  
  
' ' thought  
  
( ) author's notes  
  
***** scene change  
  
*~*~* mindscape  
  
*~* dreamscape  
  
The Titan  
  
Prologue  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Shadows covered their target's face, keeping the Alorxians from seeing the smile that played across his lips. The green glow from his eyes wasn't enough to give them an accurate look at his face, but they knew his expression. Wide, feathered wings opened on either side of him, the feathers ending in cruel points that shown in the light of the fires around them. The hair was also silhouetted against the fire behind him, it was long and spiked (like Goku's when he goes SS3). A blade was sheathed at his side, a Phoenix blade it was called; it looked as if someone had grabbed the firebird by the neck and made it into a sword. The neck was the handle, and the wings were the guard, while the blade was the tail.  
  
"Why, why have you done this?" one of the aliens asked this person.  
  
"Because it's fun," he replied as a large rock was lifted up to the right of him, and thrown at the one who spoke.  
  
"Please, spare our planet, we beg you, take anything you want, just spare our world," another begged as he dropped to his knees.  
  
This one was soon screaming as his body caught fire, rolling around on the ground while burned. The third watched him, then turned back to see that the invader was gone. It didn't though, since the next instant his vision was cut in half and what he saw before him began to slide apart. The sound of a sword being sheathed was the last thing he heard before his vision went black.  
  
"Where to next?" the boy, who couldn't possibly been more than nineteen, wondered.  
  
He looked up at the sky, and slowly began to levitate; his wings were there just for show. He ascended upwards through the atmosphere, gills on his neck opened to allow him to breathe in the toxins that made up the upper atmosphere. Once beyond that, he looked down at the planet that had been consumed by fire, his eyes flashed and a large crack began to form across what the Alorxians considered their prime meridian. With in a few minutes the entire planet split in half, the core was exposed, and exploded.  
  
"Rol, Shula, Fos (It's enny, meeny, miney, moe, I just didn't think that an alien would have the same words)," he said pointing from one star to next, then he finally landed on a bright one that twinkled in the distance. "Cer."  
  
TBC  
  
Well, that's the prologue, the real story will start with the next chapter. Hoping for at least some reviews for this chapter, meager as it may be. 


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans  
  
" " speech  
  
' ' thought  
  
( ) author's notes  
  
***** scene change  
  
*~*~* mindscape  
  
*~* dreamscape  
  
/ / telepathy  
  
The Titan  
  
Chapter 1  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Two more wings opened beneath the first on the stranger's back, his golden hair flying around him in the emptiness of space. All four wings pointed down towards the planet below, and a small bead of light formed at the tip of each feather. A small beam shot out from each bead, all of them converging on a single point ahead of him, forming a ball of white light about the size of a baseball. With a single thought, and a smirk, the ball was launched at the planet, burrowed through the outer crust all the way to the core, destroying it.  
  
The planet itself was about the size of Mercury, not very big at all, but the core had only been roughly fifty miles below the surface. So with that gone, the planets crust began to break apart and implode upon itself. What the ball of light did was formed a micro quantum singularity (a small black hole) that was now drawing the entire planet, and soon the rest of this solar system into it. He just looked around him at all of the stars, and wondered which to go to next.  
  
*****  
  
Terra sat outside he small cave, looking up at the stars, wondering why he had betrayed her. She started to wonder if Slade was right, if all of them really couldn't be trusted. Then why had they been so nice to her, they had even offered her a home, as opposed to this place. It wasn't like she hadn't considered their offer, it was just too dangerous. If her power got out of control then she, quite possibly, could have destroyed their home.  
  
It was about that time she saw what looked like a shooting star, but it was much too large.  
  
"What is that?" she wondered standing up and climbing to the top of the ridge for a better look.  
  
Whatever it was it was heading straight for the city, and even though she didn't want to got there, she still felt the need to protect it. So, with that thought now square in her mind, she summoned a boulder, got on, and headed for the city. It was strange, though, the whole time she was trying to pull it off course, but it didn't work, and that meant only one thing, it wasn't made of stone.  
  
*****  
  
"Hey, we got something headin' for the city," Cyborg said from his position at the RADAR.  
  
"What is it?" Robin asked looking over his shoulder.  
  
"Don't know, it's movin' too fast to tell."  
  
"Well, it might be just a meteor, but a meteor that size could still level a large part of the city."  
  
"Then why don't we stop it?" Beast Boy asked looking somewhat confused.  
  
"Right, Titans GO!" Robin yelled and ran out the door with the others right behind him.  
  
*****  
  
Needless to say the six teens all arrived at the same spot, at the same time. The Titans all eyed Terra, wondering exactly what she was doing there, since she had expressed a somewhat obvious lack of wanting to join. Beast Boy, on the other hand, looked somewhat hopeful at seeing her, and could tell by her face that she was happy to see him, a tiny bit, but it was there.  
  
But now was not a time for talking, now was a time to try and stop what was heading straight for them. So, Terra stepped up and laid her hands on the ground, instantly a massive boulder, almost thirty feet across lifted up through the loose dirt. She held it high over head and then threw it at the object. Apparently, whatever it was that she thought would happen, didn't happen. The boulder struck the object, and, rather than destroying it, knocked it off course from the city, sending it straight down towards them.  
  
"Titans, move!" Robin yelled and they all jumped out of the way.  
  
The ball of flame slammed into the ground, and the resulting explosion was stopped by Raven, casting a shield over the crater. The darkness vanished, leaving just a smoldering crater at least fifty feet in diameter. Golden lightening danced across the brim of the hole, arcing high above it. The lightening slowly receded back into the crater, centering around the form half-buried in the ground.  
  
"Who's that?" Beast Boy asked as he looked over the edge of the crater.  
  
Long golden hair was askew, most of it covering the person's face, leaving his back exposed. From what they could see, he was wearing a black tank top (like Future Trunks from BDZ) except there was no back to it. Four feathered wings flapped once before dispersing into just individual feathers and tiny points of light. This left four long scars running down the person's back, two just above his shoulder blades, and two right on his shoulder blades.  
  
A black aura surrounded his body and it was lifted from the ground, and from the crater as well. The aura disappeared, and he was revealed to be wearing white baggy pants, that had several rips in them, and boots (picture the pants and boots that Super Buu wore in DBZ). On his arms were two forearm guards (again, like Buu's). He was still face down, though, so Robin stepped forward and flipped him over, Starfire gasped and everyone looked at her.  
  
"Th-that's Sunfire (I was at a loss for a name)," she said fearfully, pointing at him.  
  
"Who?" Robin asked.  
  
"He's one of the most wanted criminals in the galaxy. We should restrain him immediately and notify the authorities."  
  
Everyone's attention was drawn to the body as a groan escaped it. His arms began to move to pick himself up, pushing his upper body up into a sitting position. One hand held him up; the other rested on his forehead, holding the large bump that had formed.  
  
"Ah, what happened, where am I?" he looked around at the people are him. "Who are you? Who am I?"  
  
"He must be acting," Starfire whispered to Robin, but Raven also heard.  
  
"He's not acting Starfire, he really doesn't know," the cloaked Titan said in her usual monotone. "That rock to the head must have given him amnesia."  
  
"Sunfire? Is that my name?" he asked as he stood up shakily.  
  
When he was about to fall, Raven held out her hand. Sunfire grasped Raven hand, and a rush of information flooded his head. Everything that there was to know about the one called Raven was now racing into his mind. Her past, her personality, her experiences, and a vague look at her future, but this was too distorted to see. The alien released the Titans' hand and stepped back, holding his head again. He stumbled towards Starfire, who instinctively moved to catch him, but Raven stopped his fall.  
  
"Don't touch him, Star," she said as the black aura disappeared from his body. "He absorbs information through a person's skin. If he knew what you knew, he would be very dangerous."  
  
"Yes, thank you Raven," Starfire said happily.  
  
"So, this is Earth, you're the Teen Titans, and I'm of the same race as this one?" he pointed to Starfire. "You are Robin, Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire, Cyborg and...Terra?"  
  
"Uh, yeah," Terra said from a slight distance.  
  
The Tamaran looked around him, he couldn't help but feel that something was missing, something he needed. His hand went to his hip, but what he was expecting to find wasn't there.  
  
"My sword," he looked behind him at the crater, trying to spot his blade. "Where is it?"  
  
He jumped into the hole and slid down the edge, landing in a cloud of dust. When the dust settled, he could be seen to be rooting in the dirt. But there was no digging involved, his hands simply passed right through the soil. Soon his whole body was engulfed by the ground, and all he left behind was a ripple in the earth. The earth began to churn and bubble, as if it had been turned to liquid.  
  
"Starfire, while he's in there, tell us more about him," Robin said. "What is he?"  
  
"He was an experimental weapon created by the Tamarans to combat their enemies," Raven said before Starfire could even open her mouth. "But they didn't want him to be a slave so they give him free will."  
  
"Raven, how do you know this?"  
  
"When he touched me, all that he knew was transferred to me, and everything about me was transferred to him."  
  
"Oh, so what can we expect of him?"  
  
"I'm really sure at the moment, his memories are still a little jumbled. It's safe to say, though, that he has the same powers as Starfire, and quite a bit more," she said slightly downcast. "But as long as he doesn't figure out who he really is, we should be okay."  
  
"I guess Terra just saved the world, whether she realizes it or not," Beast Boy said and turned to look at Terra, but she was gone. "Hey, where is she?"  
  
"Guess she still doesn't trust us," Cyborg said.  
  
There was an explosion of dirt behind them, and Sunfire emerged, holding his Phoenix blade over his head. The red sword gleamed in the dying sunlight, it's shine betraying the fact that it had been almost 100 feet underground. The small, green stones that made up the eyes in the pommel seemed to come alive during the sunset. He sheathed it at his hip and walked over to them.  
  
"So, what now?" he asked looking at each of them in turn.  
  
"Why not join up, we could use someone like you," Robin suggested.  
  
Sunfire looked at him, pale green eyes staring at the white expanses that were Robin's mask. He had realized what had happened when he touched Raven's bare skin, it had cause a memory download. But something was blocking his access to the innermost levels of those memories. He didn't know what, and he really didn't care, if he couldn't look at them, fine, they weren't his memories anyway, not that he had any to go on. So he just held out his hand, figuring that Robin's gloves would protect him.  
  
"Sure," he said as Robin glanced at his hand, then at Raven, who nodded ever so slightly. "Might be...fun."  
  
"Glad to hear it," Robin said as he took hold of Sunfire's hand.  
  
*****  
  
Light years away, on a planet in the Centari system, Blackfire sat in her cell, the large bracelets on her wrists constantly regulating her powers, keeping her from summoning both starbolts and her strength. A sound caught her attention, and only her attention, since she was in a part of the prison kept far from other prisoners; the Centarians knew that she was capable of organizing a rebellion. The sound got louder, and louder, sounding like boots on the metal floor. She stepped up to the door, and looked through the small window. Eyes that were completely black met hers, and she jumped to the side of the door, which was blown to pieces by a black mass of energy that greatly resembled a starbolt.  
  
"It's you," she said from the bed.  
  
"Good to see you Komand'r," the figure said.  
  
*****  
  
"How long has he been in there?" Beast Boy asked with his ear to the bathroom door.  
  
"Almost an hour," Cyborg said looking at the clock in his arm.  
  
Both of them were outside the door, behind which the sound of running water could be heard.  
  
"Maybe he just has a lot of hair to wash," Beast Boy suggested.  
  
"Man, Terra didn't this long and she was filthy," the half robot retorted.  
  
"You're right."  
  
The sound of water stopped, and there was a brief pause before the door opened and Sunfire, with a towel wrapped around his waist, stepped out. He looked between the two of them, and then continued on his way to the laundry room, to pick up his clothes. Beast Boy looked inside the bathroom and saw that it was sparkling clean, he looked over at the heavily scarred back of the Tamaranean.  
  
"Did you think I wouldn't clean up after myself?" he asked, absentmindedly reading the young changelings surface thoughts.  
  
"Well...uh..." the green Titan was at a loss for words.  
  
Sunfire simply smiled a little and stepped into the door to the laundry room, where his clothes had finished washing. When he took them out, they were wet, but in his hands they dried instantly, and he got dressed. His hair, which had been weighed down by the water, was almost completely dry as he pulled it through the hole in the tank top. It spiked itself in the back while a few of those spikes fell forward over his face. He couldn't see it, but somehow he knew that the scars on his back were pulsing.  
  
There was a noise behind him, and he turned in time to see Starfire's head duck out of sight. He had felt that she didn't trust him from the moment he had first laid eyes on her. He shrugged and walked towards the door, looking this way and that down the hall, but she was nowhere to be seen. It was a shame, he wanted to ask her where the roof access was.  
  
"Guess I'll just have to find it myself," he said and started walking.  
  
It wasn't long before he found a door labeled "STAIRS" with a large arrow pointing up. He opened the door and proceeded up the long flight of stairs, keeping his hand on the handrail. The door at the top of the stairs was slightly ajar, so he pushed it all the way open and saw the one called Raven, floating a few feet off the ground. Her cape was blowing in a nonexistent wind, and her hands held aloft, fingers twisted into an odd shape. He couldn't remember much, but he knew he had seen someone like that before, canting those same words.  
  
"Azarath," he said quietly, but not quietly enough to not alert the meditating Titan.  
  
"What?" she asked turning to face him.  
  
"Azarath, I've been there," he said, "a long time ago."  
  
"How can you remember that?"  
  
"I don't know, I heard you chanting and I just remembered hearing it somewhere," he shrugged and looked up at the stars, away from her questioning eyes. "I guess this amnesia thing wears off faster for me."  
  
"Maybe," she said while thinking, 'That can't be good.'  
  
The door behind him opened and Starfire stood there, looking somewhat out of breath. She had one hand on her thigh, the other resting on the door, panting. Her eyes were closed until she caught her breath and looked up, and seemed somewhat surprised.  
  
"Oh...Raven, it is time for the evening meal," Starfire said trying to hide the fact that she had come to make sure the other Titan was safe.  
  
"Thank you Starfire, care to join us?" the cloaked female asked.  
  
"No thanks," he said and was immediately followed by a loud rumbling from his abdomen. "On second thought."  
  
*****  
  
The next day started much like any other, with Beast Boy attempting to sneak tofu into everyone's breakfast. He carefully hid the tofu eggs underneath the real eggs, and the bacon underneath the real bacon, while his plate was piled high with both. Acting completely natural he placed the fixed plates in front of each person, and surprise, surprise, Cyborg dug in first. Quickly followed by everyone else. All of a sudden there was a gagging sound, but it wasn't the metal man, Sunfire was on the floor, clutching his throat, a mound of half-chewed tofu in front of him. Everyone stopped eating and watched him.  
  
"What is that dropna?" he asked between gasps for air. Upon hearing that, only Starfire seemed revolted at what he said. "Well?"  
  
"What, it's tofu," Beast Boy said completely unaware that he had just told everyone that he had hidden tofu in all their food. "It's good for you."  
  
"I can't handle anything other than meat," Sunfire said as he slowly stood up, leaning against the wall.  
  
"He is right, Tamaraneans only eat foods other than meat when there is no meat to be found," Starfire nodded in agreement.  
  
"Beast Boy, did you hide tofu in everyone's food?" Cyborg asked, sliding right up beside Beast Boy.  
  
"Um...no."  
  
"That's it, get over here!" Cyborg jumped at the changeling, who turned into a bird and flew off, with the mechanical Titan hot on his heels.  
  
"Are they always like this?" Sunfire asked as he finally regained his sense of balance, being able to stand without his hand on the wall.  
  
"Most days," Raven droned.  
  
They sat and listened to the shouting match that erupted in the living room, something about Cyborg needing his protein, and Beast Boy just trying to improve the overall health of the team.  
  
"You know, I wouldn't have it any other way," Robin said leaning back in his chair.  
  
Sunfire looked over at Raven, as if seeking some sort of explanation, but she just shrugged, so he turned to Starfire, whose brain seemed to be out at the moment, and Robin was finishing his breakfast. He sighed and sat back down, picking up the fork and poking at the fake eggs and bacon. It disgusted him to have been fooled so easily into eaten such filth.  
  
"When does training start?" he asked after a few minutes, he was getting bored.  
  
"After breakfast," Robin replied taking his time eating.  
  
The golden haired alien stood up and walked into the living room, heading for the door. In his way were Beast Boy and Cyborg, still arguing, till he put his hand one each of their shoulders and forced them apart, throwing them to opposite ends of the room. He reached the door and opened it, stepping outside into the fresh air and sunshine. Everyone looked at him, at the scars that were glowing on his back.  
  
"Such a strange planet, do they wait till after breakfast for everything?" He said walking down the path to the beach, his arms spread wide to catch to the sun.  
  
He reached the shore and sat down, his feet stretched out in front of him, just short of the water lapping at the sand. His hands shoved into the sand behind him, digging deep furrows in the otherwise unmarred beach. His head thrown back and eyes closed, he began to soak in the solar energy to replenish his depleted resources; interplanetary travel and an interrupted atmospheric entry can do that do you. It was more than ten minutes before the sound of footsteps entered his ears.  
  
"Sunfire, it's time," he heard Robin's voice behind him.  
  
"Finally," he breathed as he got up.  
  
"Now, today we'll be running the new obstacle course, it's been redesigned after Terra destroyed it," Robin said from behind a large console. "Cyborg, are you ready?"  
  
"I was born ready," he replied stepping up to the finish line.  
  
It was a standard obstacle course; lasers, a minefield, large spikes that shot out of the ground, the rocks that opened and fired exploding discs, particle cannons, and a series of droids (that look like Zeta) that self destruct when they get close enough. Cyborg ran the race flawlessly, ending with a somersault and a gymnasts stance just for the hell of it. His time was 2:36, a little longer than before because the added features.  
  
"Sunfire, you're next."  
  
"Alright," he stepped up to the white line, and crouched into a starting position.  
  
Two seconds, and several explosions later, he appeared next to Cyborg, a cloud of dust immediately following him. Taking a look at the course, the droids were all destroyed and in pieces, all of the rocks had been blown apart at ground level, the spikes had been bent in half, large craters littered the former minefield, the lasers and particle cannons had been forced downward, firing upon themselves. The scars on his back glowed a dull red, and small jolts of golden electricity jumped from one to the other. He looked back at Cyborg's face; it was priceless, as with everyone else's.  
  
"Looks like we need to rebuild the obstacle course," Robin said.  
  
"Again," Raven finished.  
  
Sunfire stood up from his crouched position and turned back to the ruined course. Materials began to move and shift, rebuilding themselves. Spikes shook and straightened, returning to their place beneath the ground. The wiring of the lasers and particle cannons reconnected, the platforms themselves twisting and reshaping to perfection. The droids rebuilt themselves and walked back into a small alcove in the rocks that housed them. The earth thrown into the air from the craters was dragged over the ground, or brought through the air back to the craters, and filled them. The rocks concealing the disc launchers were rebuilt along with the launchers, and were soon good as new.  
  
"There, reconstruction is finished," he said as the aura faded from his scars, "and the ammunition has been resupplied."  
  
'The transformation of objects at the atomic, possibly subatomic, level, this is impossible,' Raven thought looking at the altered Tamaranean. 'Even Azar couldn't do that.'  
  
"Raven, do you know anything about this?" Robin asked seeing her look of deep contemplation.  
  
"He can alter the matter around him, even the air, to create any sort of object he wants," she gave him the brief explanation of what happened.  
  
"Oh."  
  
Sunfire heard what Raven said, but didn't let it show, he wasn't going to do anything that might get him kicked out. He had remembered something during the night, something he wish he hadn't. He had remembered a time of searing, blinding pain. It hadn't been something he was happy to know, but that was a long time ago, longer than he cared to know. He looked from the ground to Starfire, who, like always, was watching him intently; he wished to know why she didn't trust him. Unlike Raven's memories, which were still swimming through his mind, the others had mental barriers that were keeping him out. Nothing less than direct contact was going to allow him access to their minds.  
  
'This is frustrating,' he thought as he looked around, there was a sound he couldn't quite place, but the source was getting closer. The sound waves were reverberating off the rocks and tower, confusing his sensitive ears. "Where is it?"  
  
"Where's what?" Cyborg asked. "Proximity sensors haven't detected anything."  
  
"Then they need to be upgraded," Sunfire snapped as he continued to turn his head this way and that. "It's small, maybe a foot long, definitely mechanical, and underwater. But which way is it coming from."  
  
"I'm still not seeing anything," Cyborg said looking at the screen in his arm. "Hey Robin, anything on the sonar?"  
  
"No, why?"  
  
"There it is," Sunfire pointed his open palmed hand and shot a golden starbolt at the cylinder that erupted from the surface of the water about ten feet offshore.  
  
The front of the cylinder had remained intact, landing at Robin's feet. He picked it up and looked at it, turning it over to see the back. There was a screen inside that displayed Slade's logo, which was promptly crushed by the Titans' leader.  
  
"Slade," he hissed.  
  
TBC  
  
There, the first chapter is finally done. Who is the person who busted Blackfire out of prison, you'll all find out later. Sorry for any OOCness, this is my first Titans' fic. Well, that's all from me, the next chapter is probably going to take as long, if not longer, than this one. I've got so much fuckin' stuff to do, stories to continue, and school. I can't do this much longer. 


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans

" " - speech

' ' - thought

( ) author's notes

= - scene change

== - dreamscape

- telepathy

The Titan

Chapter 2

Cowritten by Nate and Felicia

"Who is Slade?" Sunfire asked looking over at Robin, the perplexed look seemed oddly alien on his face.

"In a nutshell, he's a madman who with aspirations of world domination," Cyborg said before Robin could leap into a lengthy and graphic explanation.

"I see," he turned back to look across the bay to the city. 'Such a peaceful place, it would make sense to have a darker side.'

Robin, having had his train of thought derailed, simply looked back at the water's edge, the waves lapping lightly at the shore. It was a clue, Slade was about to move, but what was that move. He had to figure this out, but it could have been a rouse, a fake to throw them off. Feeling someone's eyes on him, he turned and saw Sunfire staring at him, a grave look on his face.

"What do you want?" he asked as he forced himself to calm.

"Don't think too hard about it Robin," the alien said as his own gaze averted to the ocean. "If you stay calm and think clearly, the answer will come quicker."

"I don't like people looking in my mind without permission."

"I didn't have to, it was written on your face," and with that Sunfire turned and headed up the small path to the tower. 'These humans are so easy to read, it's frightening.'

About a week later, on the roof of the tower, Sunfire levitated in the moonlight, his hands in his lap, palms up, thumbs touching above them. His long hair swished and swirled this way and that in the wind, some of it curling around in front of him. Eyes closed, and head tilted slightly upward, he extended his mind outward, feeling everything in the tower and nearby city. He was so absorbed in his mental activity that he didn't notice the door open, but that didn't matter, he knew who it was.

"What is it Raven?" he asked as he ceased his actions and dropped his feet to the ground and looked at her.

"Would you mind some company while meditating?" she asked somewhat hesitantly.

"Not at all," he smiled and turned back around, levitating again.

She walked up next to him and levitated as well, beginning her usual chant. It was bothering her, though, that she had thought the roof was empty, having not sensed him there. That was why she had asked if he wanted company, she had to think of a good excuse. But, now, here he was, with a heavy golden aura floating around him that was plainly visible to her. Cracking an eye open, she saw him glance at her, then quickly look forward.

"The stars are much more visible here than in the city," he said while looking straight up.

"Do you have to talk?" she asked.

"Just trying to lighten the mood," he turned upside down and looked at her. "It's just so quiet out here."

"I like quiet," Raven turned to glare at him.

"So do I, but this kind of quiet just doesn't feel right," he stayed where he was, hair waving slightly in the wind. "If you'd rather be alone, I could..."

"No, no, it's alright."

"Starfire seems weary of me being around," he flipped back over, looking towards the city. "Yet, when I offered to leave, she seemed adamant about keeping me here. Do you know why?"

"Maybe she's having mixed feelings," Raven suggested, knowing damn well why Star was worried about having him here, or letting him go on his own.

He cocked his head slightly, why would she be having mixed feelings, could he have done something to her that he couldn't remember? It was possible, maybe he knew her before he lost his memory. All his memories were very foggy, and it felt as if half his mind was completely missing. One thing that he could remember did stand out; pain, intense, mind-bending pain.

Just as his thoughts were beginning to line up, and make sense, an alarm sounded. Two pairs of feet touched the ground at the same time and they both ran towards the door. Sunfire reached it first and threw it open, moving aside automatically to allow Raven access first. The dark sorceress noticed this only briefly before she was in the door and down the stairs when he followed her.

They arrived in the common room a few seconds later, and there, on the screen, was a map. A flashing dot labeled where the problem was, but no one else was there. Then Robin's picture appeared on the screen next to the map.

"Raven, Sunfire, we've gone ahead, meet us at the location specified," he said then was gone.

Sunfire looked down at Raven, then back at the map, thinking of the best way to get there. His eyes opened with an idea. He reached out and placed a hand on Raven's shoulder, and the next instant they were gone.

Cinderblock was just finishing grinding Cyborg into the ground when a flash caught his attention. Turning he raised his arms to deflect two of Starfire's starbolts, then two more golden spheres struck his arms, driving him to the ground. The cement behemoth moved his arms to see a black-enclosed light post slam him in the face, knocking him back.

"Good you two could make it," Robin said from a little ways away, preparing to throw his birdarangs.

The two projectiles collided with Cinderblock, forcing him further back. He stood up again and charged Robin, his arms swinging wildly, completely unfazed by Starfire's attempts to strike him. Robin leapt up, out of Cinderblock's path, but the monster was prepared for this and grabbed him out of the air. The Titans' leader struggled, but wasn't able to avoid being thrown to the ground. Before he could get away, a golden starbolt struck the concrete villian's back, causing him to fall to his knees, on Robin's legs. The boy wonder yelled in pain as Cinderblock stood up, turning to look at Sunfire.

"Sorry, better than being dead though," he said in a bit of an aloof manner. "Raven, get Robin out of the way."

"Right," she said and thrust her hand out, grasping Robin with her telekinesis and pulling him to safety. The black aura around Robin helped to dull the pain and stop the bleeding from his lower legs.

Sunfire, now free from that little obstacle, began to power up a starbolt, but, instead of launching it, he closed his hand around it, the light from it radiating between his fingers. Moving swiftly he rushed to Cinderblock's front and brought his hand forward, into Cinderblock's stomach. When he pulled his hand away, there was a large imprint in the cement, and several cracks spidering from it on all sides.

"Hm, I thought it'd go all the way through," Sunfire smirked as he rose from the ground. "Must've not put enough power into it."

He continued to rise as Cinderblock looked horrified at the wound given him by the alien. This was what Cinderblock was meant to do, run amok and keep the Titans busy, and he was doing a fairly good job. But that touch was all Sunfire needed to see right through this.

"Let's see what's going through that mind of yours," he thrust his hand forward again, this time it landed flat against Cinderblock's face.

Flashes of the monster's memory flooded the alien's mind; flashes of the blond girl from a few days ago, of the one called Slade, and of his orders to Cinderblock. Once the download was complete, Sunfire began to power up another starbolt, but this one was different; it was much smaller, and golden/orange lightening radiated around it.

"Thank you," he whispered, "now have a SOLAR FLARE!"

The ball streaked from his hand and struck his opponent in the head, going right through it and continuing to the ground behind him. A massive cloud of dust followed the explosion, which engulf Sunfire and Cinderblock from the others views. When it settled, Cinderblock was on the ground, with the alien weapon standing atop him. His head whipped around and looked towards the edge of the city, a smile resting on his face. Calmly he stepped off the behemoth and began walking down a street towards the desert.

"Stop," he heard Raven say calmly.

"What?" he turned and saw her standing there, the others around her.

Robin was being supported by Starfire, his legs, due to extensive training, were not crushed, but did carry many gashes that would have been bleeding, had Raven not patched them. Beast Boy, in the form of an elephant, was pulling Cyborg out of the hole that Cinderblock pounded him into, and Raven was glaring at him. He could somewhat understand their feelings, but he had more pressing matters.

"What did you think you were doing?" she asked, looking back at the fallen creature, the hole in his head still smoking slightly. "You didn't have to kill him."

"It was a necessary exercise," the alien stated, calmly, too calmly for the Titans' liking.

"No, it wasn't, we could have simply incapacitated him and taken him back to jail."

"Only to have him break out again," he countered her deepening glare with a small smile and slightly feral look in his eyes. "I've seen it all Raven, through his eyes and yours."

Raven gasped slightly, as did Starfire and Beast Boy; Robin and Cyborg were unconscious.

"Now, if you'll excuse, I have business to take care of," he turned back around and started walking.

"And what business is that?"

"Cinderblock is a decoy, Slade is after Terra," he stated simply.

"Terra?" Beast Boy asked, then made a quick decision. "I'm going with you."

"No, you're not Beast Boy, and neither is Sunfire," Raven said with an angry tone to her voice.

"If would like to stop me, you're welcome to try," the enhanced alien stopped walking again and turned around. "But we are wasting time, and...where did Starfire go?"

"I cannot allow you to leave," he heard her behind him. "You have taken life, and must now pass judgement."

"Get out of my way," he snapped, turning back and aiming a starbolt, "or you will join him."

Starfire looked at him with a look of fear, but she kept the starbolt she had summoned leveled on him. A thousand thoughts rushed through her mind. Cinderblock was villian, a relentless one, what he did was for the best, was it not? Now he was offering to save friend Terra, why would someone like him do that? It wasn't making sense, could he not be who she thought? Was she fed false information by her comrades on Tamaran?

"Very well," she conceded, letting the starbolt vanish from her hand, "but please, promise to bring back Terra."

"I will," he dropped his own starbolt and began walking again. As he passed her, he whispered, "you have my word, Princess."

Starfire perked up and turned around, but he was gone, vanished from sight. But, he had just been there, then she remembered just who he was, and he seemed to remember who she was. That was good, since he had been programmed to obey members of the royal family, but it was also bad because he was starting to remember.

"I just hope if he finds Slade, he refrains from killing him," Raven quipped.

"Do not worry, Raven, I am sure he will do just as he said and bring Terra back," Starfire strode over to Robin and lifted him up, preparing to go home.

Sunfire grumbled lightly as he appeared outside a cave, lit up a starbolt, and looked inside. It seemed he was too late, Terra was already gone. Examining the ground he saw others had already been here, a great number of others. Something was off here, though, if Terra had gone with Slade, then her footprints would not have been so greatly spaced.

'She left before he got here,' he stood up and looked this way and that for any sign of the girl returning. 'She is still out there, somewhere, but where?'

A large pillar of stone erupting from over a hill, not more than a mile away, was more than enough of a clue as to her location. The starbolt vanished and he took to the air and disappeared again. He knew as well as Slade did that Terra's emotional disposition was enough to drive her to the darkness. But there was something wrong with Terra's mind, when he had initially scanned it, having had brief contact with it when she hit him with the rock, he saw something that could possibly hurt Slade's supposed operation.

"NO!" Terra screamed backing away from the man in black.

"Come now Terra, there is no avoiding what you are," Slade said as he took another step forward, forcing Terra against the rock wall behind her.

"Unfortunately, there are plenty of ways," the both looked up as a golden starbolt struck the ground at Slade's feet.

Sunfire landed in front of Terra, creating, for all purposes, an impassible barrier. He stood there with his hand was raised, fingers outstretched, and a small golden ball forming at the tips of each. The balls flashed outward, streaking around Slade and turning upwards, where they exploded into many, many smaller balls. Each one hit one of Slade's robots and disappeared, not appearing to have done anything.

"Wait for it," he said as unnoticed blue strings of energy left the sides of his boots and slithered into the ground.

A few seconds later vines began to grow from the seams and joints of every robot, covering them in foliage. Each one, one by one, fell the ground, completely useless. Slade's one eye opened wide, as did Terra's.

"Now, it's just us," Sunfire smirked as a starbolt formed in his hand, which then clenched around it. "You have two choices, either leave, or I do to you what I did to Cinderblock."

"This isn't over," Slade hissed and then seemed to melt into the shadows.

In a second he was gone, and all that was left was his army of droids, the plants growing from them had begun to take root in the ground. The Tamaranian cast his hand out, and easily lifted one and levitated it over to him. Examining the plant's growth and progress in the low light.

"It's called a frila weed, quite a remarkable plant," he said brushing his hand against one of the leaves. "I picked it up on the planet Technus, a planet ruled entirely by an A.I. program created centuries ago."

He stood and held out a flower to the blonde girl, who took it and looked at the pink and yellow petals.

"These plants have actually evolved to survive on oil and other lubricants until it can find suitable soil."

"Thank you," Terra replied somewhat meekly, placing the flower in her hair. "I guess I owe you one."

"Call it even," he smiled a little and took a step back, after realizing just how close he was to the teen. "Terra, do you know how Robin knew you couldn't fully control your powers?"

"How do you know about that?"

"I didn't lose all my memories when that rock hit me, Terra," he pointed to his head before continuing, "and, as a matter of fact, I have some of yours swimming around in here as well."

Terra would have taken a step back, but she was already pressing herself against the aforementioned rock wall. How could he, how could he have her memories, and, more importantly, what was he going to do with those memories?

"How?" was the first thing she said.

"The boulder was connected to you through your powers, thus a direct link to your mind," he explained quickly. "Terra, you cannot keep running, you must learn to control your powers."

"I know, but what if they don't want me back?" she looked at the ground, knowing exactly what he was leading up to.

"They do, Terra, especially Beast Boy, he misses you the most," he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I can help you control them, if you'll let me."

"You would?" she looked up, and had what looked to be the beginnings of a tear in her eye.

He nodded and pulled her gently away from the wall, guiding her through the small valley. The frila weed was beginning to grow quite rapidly now, covering the dirt floor in vines that arched up from the soil and back in, like an ancient sea monster. As they walked, the vines moved out of the way of their feet, leaving the path where it was. Sunfire's hand on her shoulder felt so comforting and reassuring that Terra couldn't think of anything other than him at the moment.

"I'll show you the Tamaranian way to control your powers," he said as he led her up the small hill. "It involves the use of unbridled emotions that will bring out that true depths of your powers."

"Um...ok," she said, wanting to sound confident, but the thought of having any more power than she did was a little scary.

They walked to Terra's cave and Sunfire sat outside while she went inside. He placed his hand on the ground and when he removed it, a small plant was already growing. It was situations like this that he was glad to be gifted with ecomancing (ecomancer – plant mage) powers. Once the plants was about six inches tall, it looked like a mini-weeping willow, except its leaves were red, and the trunk was black. It, all of a sudden, burst into a multicolored flame and warmed the Tamaranian; the light and warmth drawing Terra from her cave. In the firelight she saw Sunfire take a communicator from his belt.

"Titans' Tower, come in Raven," he said, but there was no answer, he sighed. "Come on Raven, I know your there, put down the book and answer."

Terra giggled before the communicator crackled to life.

"I'm here, have you found Terra?" Raven asked.

"Nope, didn't find anyone but this blond chick," he jerked his thumb at Terra. "Of course I found her, right where Cinderblock's memory said."

"Good, come back to the tower."

"I will, in a week or so, I'm going to help Terra control her power," he said knowing exactly what Raven would say.

"Not a chance, both of you get back to the tower," she seemed to be getting more and more frustrated. "Robin wants a word with you."

Sunfire looked over at Terra, who had a bit of a downcast look one her face at the mention of the Boy Wonder. He reached over and brushed a few strands of hair out of her eyes and turned back to the screen. Raven was glaring at him now, he'd probably cut into her meditation time, and this aspect of Robin was of no concern.

"We'll be back in ten days," he said firmly and then added, "if Robin wants to talk, he can come out here."

"Fine, it's your funeral," she said then the link went dead.

Slipping the communicator back onto his belt, he leaned back against the rock wall. Looking over at Terra again, and saw her staring into the fire.

"It's a combustion fern, from the planet..."

"Pyrus?" she asked with a small laugh.

"Actually from the planet Yih'lon," he settled himself further against the rocks.

They stayed like that for a few hours, Terra enjoying the warmth and company, Sunfire enjoying the time away from the Titans. He had been there only one week and felt he needed to get away. Something was not right with the little one (i.e. Beast Boy), and having Starfire constantly suspicious of him. But it was okay, nothing should happen now that Terra was safe. The Titans could easily handle things without him, but something was bothering him at the moment. He had called Starfire '"Princess," but couldn't remember why he had done that.

'Parts of it are still blank, but most of it is here,' he thought as he scanned his own memory.

"Sunfire, that's your name right?" the alien nodded. "Why did this plant just burst into flames.

'Ah, conversation,' he whooped inside his head. "The combustion fern is a sacred plant on Yih'lon, and it only grows in one field. They take almost two hundred years to grow only a foot tall, then burst into flames, burn for a few days, then die. When the plants die, they leave behind two seeds. The seeds are planted right beneath the parent plant and are then looked after for the next two hundred years. No one really knows why they combust, and, really, no one cares. The Connifs, the people whose land the plants grow on, invite all the peoples from neighboring regions to see it during a big festival."

"It's beautiful," Terra drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, placing her entire face, aside from her eyes, behind her legs. "I would give almost anything to see that field."

"Well," Sunfire looked up at the stars, "the orbit of Yih'lon around its sun is much faster than yours. It takes the planet only about three earth-months to make a full orbit. But the day there is almost thirty earth-hours. So in about twenty years, I'll come back and get you for the next festival."

"You mean it?"

"Of course, everyone should have the chance to see something like this," he gestured to the plant, "only about eight-thousand times better."

"Cool, so it's a date?" Terra said holding out her hand.

"Only if your still single," he smiled and took her gloved hand in his, shaking to make it official.

They laughed a little and looked back at the burning tree, both thinking of what they next ten days would bring. Sunfire was mapping out what he could teach this young one, he himself had been born with control, and could easily simply bestow it upon her. But that was like cheating someone out of a major, life-altering feat. He remembered a saying that he had picked up on one of the signals coming from this planet, "he who acquires his skills quickly is he is the first to fail." What good would control be for Terra is she hadn't earned it.

Terra was thinking somewhat along the same lines, except her thoughts were more towards what she was going to be taught. She had respect for this person, he wasn't following orders to stay here, he was doing this by himself. He had talked back to Raven and even Robin, to some extent.

"He's very perceptive," Sunfire said suddenly.

"What?"

"Robin, he's very perceptive," he repeated, "that's how he knew you couldn't fully control your powers."

"Oh," she looked at him, then the fire, then tilted her head a little to look at the stars.

"Hey, you can't come in here," a guard said aiming a pulse rifle at the cloaked intruder.

"And I should care...why?" he asked as a black starbolt flew from his hand and incinerated the guard. "Kommand'r, get the device."

"Right," Blackfire flew into the room and destroyed the force field. She reached in and grabbed a small sphere of metal, then flew back. "Got it, let's go."

"Good," he turned and left through the blasted door.

"So, Moonfire, what are we doing with this?"

"You'll find out," he replied, "all in due time."

TBC

There, finally got it done, sorry bout that, lotta stuff to do. I've got all these ideas for later, the hard part is getting to those ideas. Well, here's the chapter, as promised you now know who busted Blackfire out, but you still don't know anything about him. Anyone who can guess who it is gets a prize, possibly a place in one of my stories.


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans 

I'm going to be switching my stories to HTML format, it's easier that way. And don't forget to read the little blurb at the end, it has some info in it you might be interested in. 

" " - speech 

' ' - thought 

( ) author's notes 

== - dreamscape 

- telepathy 

The Titan 

Chapter 2 

Cowritten by Nate and Felicia

* * *

"So, Moonfire, what's this sphere for?" Blackfire asked as she and her cloaked companion drifted through space. 

Black eyes glinted in the light of a passing star, and Blackfire knew he was looking at her. There was something in those expressionless pools of darkness, something that looked to her like confusion. But how could that be? He had seemed so sure of himself back on Turanes 5; now, from what little she could see of his face, he looked lost. 

"I'm not sure," he said, turning a small barrel roll. "Something told me to take it, so I did." 

"If I told you to take something, would you?" 

"No." 

"Hmph, fine, I'll bet you couldn't anyway," she turned over, and floated, seemingly, on her back. 

"Reverse psychology does not work on me, Blackfire," the eyes left her to concentrate on a planet below, "you know quite well what I'm capable of." 

A few seconds later the planet exploded, sending a mass of debris towards them. Blackfire powered up two starbolts, but dropped them when Moonfire erected a shield. From beneath his cloak, a mangled hand emerged, the flesh red and twisted. A dark, hazy sphere appeared around them, absorbing all the rocks and trees and even the planet's inhabitants into it.

* * *

Back on Earth, Sunfire sat up straight and looked at the sky, something was terribly wrong. Looking down he saw Terra lying next to the still-burning fern, sound asleep. He could now understand Robin wanting to wait till after breakfast. Standing, he stretched, then stooped and scooped up the two seeds dropped by the fern, adding them to the others in a pocket of sudo-space. His eyes traveled from the fern to the valley below the cave, then over to the vine-covered hill not too far away. 

'The androids have probably corroded by now,' he thought, looking back up at the sky. 

"Sunfire," there was the voice he'd been waiting all night for. 

"Would you mind keeping it down, Robin," he said, without turning around, "Terra is trying to sleep." 

"I think you know why I'm here," the Boy Wonder said, dropping from above the cave mouth to right in front of it. 

"Yes," the Tamaranean finally turned to look at him, but it was only a half turn. "How are your legs?" 

"That's besides the point," Robin walked over to Sunfire, glaring up at the blank look on the alien's face. "Why did you kill Cinderblock?" 

"It seemed the logical thing to do. Starfire and Raven understand, even if they don't want to admit it; even you understand my reasoning," Sunfire almost hissed that last part, but kept himself in check. "Cinderblock was a relentless threat, he attacks, you waste time and energy stopping him, only for him to escape again." 

"That may be true, but..." 

"But nothing, Robin," golden hair whipped forward in a sudden wind, "you may have seen more violence and carnage than most people do, but that is nothing compared to what I have seen." 

"Your memory?" 

"No, Raven's memories," he turned back to looking at the valley. "You don't want to know what she has seen and done." 

"Raven is not the one on trial here." 

"So now I'm on trial, where's the judge, or the jury?" Sunfire closed his eyes and concentrated on keeping Terra asleep. "Cinderblock took life, and so his life was taken." 

"That's up to the authorities to decide." 

"Are you not an authority?" eyes flashed briefly, and Robin took a deep breath to calm himself. 

"Look, I'm willing to overlook this because you're new, but no more killing from now on." 

"Very well, Starfire has already made that clear to me," he turned his gaze to Terra now. "Besides, without Cinderblock's memories, I would not have the information on Slade that you so desire." 

He turned his body to follow his gaze and walked over to Terra, gently lifting her up and taking her inside the cave. A few seconds later he came back out, his eyes filled with contained rage. He would listen to this person, for now, but he would need to take matters into his own hands again. 

"Robin..." 

"Yes?" 

"...If your entire identity were to be exposed, to your greatest enemy, and the only way out was to kill, would you?" 

Robin opened his mouth, then closed it a few times, that...was a hard question. He had contemplated that thought several times, but had never come to a definite conclusion. The easy way would be to kill his enemy, but there were several different options open if he chose not to kill. All of these, though, ended in him having to drop off the face of the earth. Any new costume he put on would instantly be seen through; if one hero leaves, and another shows up the next day, it's kind of easy to see who it is, some of the time. 

"I'll get back to you on that," Robin said as he turned to leave. 

"Of course," Sunfire watched him leave through his peripheral vision. 'That is the question that will haunt your thoughts forever, little boy.' 

"By the way, my legs are doing much better," he heard Robin call out from the top of the hill.

* * *

A little later that day, after Terra had awoken, and both had eaten breakfast, Sunfire began the training. They were a few valleys over from Terra's cave, and she was sitting on a rock listening to what he had to say. She was amazed by how much he knew about her type of power; he spoke of things even she didn't know she was capable of. 

"Your powers, Terra, as well as mine, Raven's, and Starfire's are linked directly to our emotions," he said while pacing a bit. "Where as Raven controls hers by keeping her emotions in check, you and I are different. You have to feel your emotions for your power to come out. By feeling nothing you deny yourself the very thing that makes you more than human. But, when you feel too much of a certain emotion, you lose what little control you have. Too much Anxiety, too much Fear, even too much Respect or Love could be hazardous at abnormal levels." 

Terra suddenly remembered the time she had been skipping stones with Beast Boy. She had felt nervous about being there, felt respect for what they did, and even had some naughty thoughts about Beast Boy. It was then that her powers decided to lift the rock from beneath him and dump him off. She could remember apologizing profusely, and him telling her it was okay. 

"You see, Terra, had he not stop your apology, you could have done even more damage," he held up one finger to justify his point. "Now, an emotion like Rage, that's a tricky one; there can be only limited room for Rage, for she will destroy you from the inside out. To feel mad is something natural, but to be furious, then Rage rears her head, and she will take control." 

"What do you mean, why do you personify emotions?" 

"Because, Terra, if you ever venture inside your mind, you mill see all of your emotions as different forms of yourself. Right now there are several emotions working in harmony to control how you feel, but Rage destroys that harmony and drives your mind into a frenzy." 

"Has it happened to you?" 

"Yes." 

"When?" 

"I will tell you later, now listen to me. Fear is another emotion to be weary of, you experienced that when Slade had told you to not trust the Titans. Fear, Confusion, and Denial, three emotions that should never have the driver's seat of your mind all at once. You conjured a tornado in that tunnel, because your mind was reeling with what Slade said. He was trying to unbalance you Terra; he knows that you have been alone all this time, he has been watching you. But this is where you can change the way your life is going; this is where you can change the course of this planet's future." 

Terra looked up at him expectantly, waiting for some mind-blowing revelation to be revealed. She was rewarded with the rock she was sitting on being lifted far into the air, very quickly. The sudden movement triggered Fear, who instantly threw her off the rock, and grabbing another, this one under her control. 

"This, Terra, this is where you learn control," she heard him yell from down below. "You must increase your tolerance to your emotions; you must be able to feel more, without letting them take control of your powers." 

The rock she stood on began to shake, being pelted with smaller rocks from below, breaking it up piece by piece. The rock she had been on circled around her, and it was that which she was concentrating on, knowing it was going to ram her. When it did, she could feel the rock below her give way, and she fell, the other rock zipped by harmlessly. Her power grabbed two of the small stones and held them up, therefore holding her up; she sighed. 

But that sigh was a little premature, as several smaller rocks began striking her gloved hands. She yipped and shrieked at each one, feeling her fingers begin to bruise from the impact. She screamed and let go when a larger rock, about the size of a grown man's fist, slammed into her right hand. A flat slab of rock tore from the cliff behind Sunfire and zoomed over to her. From there she concentrated on grabbing all the rocks that were floating around her and flung them at Sunfire. 

The rocks stopped halfway between them, and Terra concentrated harder. Her brow was furrowed, he hands clenched, her eyes glowing. Sunfire stood calmly; a small smile resting on his face, it was time. It was time for Terra to confront Rage, and to conquer her. More rocks began to unearth themselves all around the Tamaranean, joining the ones held between Terra and himself. The rocks were slowly moving towards Terra, pushing against her control on them. 

"NO!" she screamed and pushed against the rocks, pushing them back. 

The cliff behind Sunfire began to crack, rocks falling from it, towards the alien. But he still stood with the smile on his face. Then his hold on the rocks was released, and they rocketed towards him. Rage smiled, she knew she was stronger, and Terra was stronger with her. As soon as the first rock struck, doing no damage mind you, Rage could feel something pushing her, but it wasn't one of her sister emotions. More and more rocks struck Sunfire, and with each one, Terra's rage began to subside, but her concentration was not faltering. 

"Now," Sunfire said, and the rocks stopped, Terra's power stripped from them, and they fell to the ground. "Not bad, for a first try." 

"Really?" Terra asked as her rock lowered to the ground. 

'You have no idea,' he thought then said, "Yeah, already you've conquered Rage." 

"Wow, in that short amount of time?" 

"What do you mean? It's almost sundown," he looked over at the setting sun. "We held that stalemate for almost eight hours." 

"Seriously, but, it barely felt like five minutes," Terra said, astonished that so much time could have passed without her realizing. 

"That's because the time passed here, not in your mind," he pointed to her head, not touched, just pointed. "Rage, being the most dangerous, had to be dealt with now, so your training could go much smoother." 

"I guess I understand," she sat down on a floating rock, not even realizing she was levitating it. "So what about tomorrow?" 

"Fear," he said as he sat on the ground. 

"Okay."

* * *

A few days passed, and Terra's training had been coming along faster than Sunfire realized. She mastered Fear in only seven hours, and moved on to Anxiety, Confusion, and now they were on Denial. But there was one problem for Terra, Sunfire was nowhere to be found. She knew this wasn't part of the test, she just didn't know where he was. 

"He wouldn't just leave, would he?" she stood atop her hill and held a hand over her eyes, to shield them from the sun. "I don't believe it." 

That was when she heard it, a long, melodious tune echoing through the valley behind her. It sounded like very loud humming. She followed the sound and climbed over the next three hills to find the source of the noise. Sunfire was levitating slightly, his legs drawn up, and hands in the same position as the night he had meditated with Raven. All around him, pillars of stone were raising and lowering, each one representing a separate note in his song. Terra sat on the hilltop and listened to him, listened to the notes passing through her. Somehow, with all that had been going on, the tune made her feel better. 

Then she felt a rumbling from beneath, she felt it in her very core, like the Earth itself was resonating through her. The pillars below shot up, and out of their holes, falling to the way side as the rumbling continued. A few seconds later water shot out of the holes, rising a hundred feet into the air, before crashing down to the valley floor below. Miraculously, Sunfire sat in the middle of it, every single drop that looked to hit him, hit his shield first. 

"Wow," Terra whispered, she could only control one pillar at a time, but he had just been controlling a dozen. And now, with the water, that just added to her amazement. "Is this part of the test?" 

"No," she looked up, there was Sunfire, standing beside her. "This is for enjoyment; you do swim, don't you?" 

"I...never really got the chance to learn." 

"Then here is your chance, don't _deny_ yourself this chance to learn," he smiled and grabbed her hand, pulling her down to the shore of the newly formed lake. 

"B-but I don't have a bathing suit," she stuttered as she eyed the water. 

"Granted," he snapped his fingered and her clothes were gone, replaced by a black, one piece swimsuit. 

"Uh, how'd you do that?" she asked looking over at him, wearing black swim trunks that ended just below his knees. 

"Trade secret," he said with a smile and wink before diving in; he surfaced a little ways out and turned around. "Come on, the water feels great." 

"O-okay," she put out her foot to touch the water, but, before she could, a rock pushed through the surface, blocking her. 'Oh no.' 

"Do I have to pull you in?" Sunfire asked as he swam a little closer. "Come on Terra, you're denying yourself a good time, and that just won't do." 

'Deny?' Terra took a step back. 'That's it.' 

Taking a few more steps back, she ran forward, leaping as high as she could, and as far as she could. There was almost no splash when she entered the water, but that was because of the upheaval of the earth below. She landed on a small sandbar, which she unconsciously created. Turning around, she saw Sunfire, his head just above the surface, smiling at her. Suddenly, the ground dropped out from below her, and she went under the water, only to come back up, flailing her arms. That was when she felt the hands beneath her shoulders, holding her up. 

"See, it's not that bad," he laughed a little from behind her. "Now just kick your legs a little and try to breathe normally." 

She looked over her shoulder at him, and did as she was told, kicking her legs gently. That, alone, was enough to keep her floating there; Sunfire's hands now hovering beneath her arms, waiting. A little later, his hands removed themselves, and he maneuvered himself around in front of her. 

"Understand now, Terra?" he asked with a wry smile on his face. 

"Yes, by denying the good things in life, I only push myself towards negative emotions." 

"Exactly, now come on, swim to me," he drifted back about ten feet, and held out his arms. "Just try a mava paddle." 

"What?" 

He sighed, shouldn't it have been obvious, "Here on Earth it's called a doggy paddle." 

"Oh, okay," she said, and began moving her arms and legs, keeping her breathing steady, so as to have enough air to keep her head above the water. 

It took her a few tries, but after a little while, Terra began to get used to being in the water. Before this she mostly avoided the water, having eerie feelings whenever she had to go through it. One reason for it would be the mudslide she'd caused a little more than two years ago. She was living with a family in a small town in the mountains. Then, one day, without anything to trigger it, her powers went haywire, starting the disaster that had destroyed the entire town. 

"It wasn't your fault, Terra," Sunfire said from a few feet away, where he was floating on his back. "At least, not consciously, you were young, your powers just emerging." 

"I know, but it was still my fault, no matter how you look at it." 

"That's why we're here, so you can make sure it never happens again." 

Terra looked around, noticing that the water was becoming clouded with dirt, whereas it had been clear a moment ago. Looking towards the source of the dirt, she saw a large spire of brown water erupt from the surface. It extended almost fifty feet in the air, twisting and turning like a tornado. She turned back towards Sunfire, who was still smiling. 

"Anything with any kind of mineral in it can be controlled," he let his body sink, so only his head was above the surface. "Terra, I want you to grab that spire, and take it from my control." 

"O-okay," she held her hands up, eyes adopting their usual golden glow. 

Sunfire released the spire and it instantly fell back into the lake. Terra groaned at her failure, but stopped herself short when another spire erupted. She looked to Sunfire, and he nodded her to take it. Thrusting her hands out, she concentrated as hard as she could, focusing all her mind on those tiny grains of sand, clay, and soil within it. When Sunfire released it, the spire lasted for a few seconds before collapsing. 

"Better, we'll just keep doing this until you've got it," he conjured another tower of water. 

"Right," Terra said, her voice radiating confidence and determination.

* * *

The rest of the days flew by, with Terra growing ever stronger, and ever more confident in her control. She was no longer denying her what she wanted to do, and wasn't afraid of what her power might do. Rage, forget about Rage, she was cool, calm, and collected. It amazed Sunfire just how quickly she had advanced her powers, and her multitasking skills were top notch. She could control three boulders, three spires of water, and a wide array of stalagmites, all at once. 

It was now day ten, the day that Sunfire had told them he would return with Terra. There was no telling what the Titans had gotten into during those ten days, but it was safe to say he wasn't going to be greeted with open arms. Terra's arrival would probably be cause for a Feast of Reunity; he perished the thought. This planet did not have the required ingredients for such a meal, and it was doubtful the local food would make a viable substitute. 

"Terra, I must say I'm extremely proud of you," Sunfire said as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "In just ten days you've come closer to complete control than you have your entire life. But please realize that, even if you think you have control, there will still be times when you lose it. Try to be ready." 

"Don't worry about, no way am I losing control again," Terra replied, pushing a loch of hair behind her ear. 

"You have no idea the true depth of your power, Terra," he turned to look out over the lake, at the giant T in the distance. "Do not think you have total control, you will still need to practice. Hone your skills, until they are perfect." 

"I...I'm sorry if I offended you," she looked down. "I realize that I'll still have to practice, but it just feels so good to know that I won't destroy anything for the time being." 

Sunfire turned his gaze from the tower back to her, and tightened his grip on her shoulder slightly. With a wind that whipped at their hair and faces, the two of them disappeared.

* * *

They reappeared outside the tower's main entrance. Sunfire stepped up to the door and pushed it open, revealing the large entry hall, lined with chairs. He led Terra through the hall to the elevator, and punched in for the top floor. The elevator lurched into motion, moving them slowly towards their destination. The Tamaranian could feel the emotions from the people above them, two in particular. 

"Terra." 

"Yes?" 

"I need you to keep my memories a secret," he said looking up at the numbers. "If they knew, then I would have to leave here, and, for the time being, that would not be wise." 

"Alright," she nodded slightly, her neck also craned to see the numbers. "Why would it not be wise?" 

"I'll tell you later." 

The doors opened and they stepped out to a chorus of cheers. Sunfire looked up and saw a banner reading, 'WELCOME BACK TERRA!' A smile crossed his face, and he stepped to the side, getting out of Starfire and Beast Boy's paths. Terra was instantly pulled into Starfire's arms, the sound of her joints popping was quite evident. 

"FRIEND TERRA, YOU HAVE RETURNED TO US!" the young girl squealed as she hugged the blonde tighter. 

"Uh, h-hey, Starfire," she grunted slightly from the suddeness and force of Starfire's affections, "i-it's good to see you, too." 

"I am so elated that Sunfire kept his word," Starfire released Terra, and stood a little to the side. 

It was then that Terra noticed that her teacher wasn't next to her anymore. She looked around and saw him leaving the room, wondering why, but then she saw Raven follow him. She would have wondered why, but the others had crowded around her. Cyborg, and Robin welcomed her back, and Beast Boy turned a deep red when she placed her arms around him. 

"Thanks guys, it's good to be back," she said as she made her way to the couch, the others following in close pursuit. "Sorry for running away like that, I was just so confused." 

"Don't worry about it Terra," Robin said from her right, "you've gotten control, that's was matters." 

"Are you kidding, Terra is _here_, **that's** what matters," Beast Boy retorted, and Terra blushed at that.

* * *

A few hallways away, another scene was taking place, this one between the two not present. Raven had followed Sunfire, knowing that he and Terra were keeping something from her. His mental defenses were the most formidable she had ever encountered, but she knew hers were pretty good too, otherwise he would have known everything about her. 

"What do you want Raven?" he asked as they reached a junction with another hall. "I kept her from Slade and brought her here, why are you not with them?" 

"Because I want an answer only you can give me," she said with a bit of worry in her monotone. 

"What is your question?" he turned around and, for the first time, noticed how much shorter than him she was. 

"Have you regained any memories while you were away?" 

"Yes, but they are unimportant," he turned back around to leave, but felt a hand on his back, on the tank top. "You need not fear touching me, I can control it now." 

"Is that something you learned with her?" 

"No, I have been able to for quite some time." 

"Then why not tell us?" 

"I believed it to be of no importance for you to know." 

"What is..." 

"I'm sorry, but you only get three question," he started to walk away. "I'll answer your other questions later." 

He left her standing there, her arm held up, palm forward, and a bit of a confused look on her face. What did it matter if he walked away, it's not like he had anywhere else to go. But didn't her questions have importance, or did they, and she, mean nothing to him. 

'What is his deal?' she thought. 'Oh well, it doesn't matter, he'll tell me, sooner or later.' 

She turned and headed back to the party, where Beast Boy and Cyborg were trying to get Terra to eat their cakes. Cyborg's was, naturally, made the correct way, while BB's was, how shall I say, not as appetizing as the half-robot's. Terra, though, humored them, and said both cakes tasted delicious. 

TBC 

There, another chapter in such a short time, I don't think I've written like this since I first started "The Reaper," my Zoids fic on Back then I used to bang out chapters like it was nothing, two three, even four times a week. Hm, oh well, enough about me, tell me what you think, did I capture them alright? How much OOCness was there, I need to know. Now, let me see, ah yes, so little reviews for the last chapter, why? Was it not good, not up to scratch, or was there not enough sex? I mean, there was plenty of violence (no blood though, I'm not sure if Cinderblock has blood), and somewhat of a sappy part. What else, oh yeah, a response to Chaos' review from a while back, no, this will not be a Robin/Raven, though I prefer them, this will not be one. But, it will not be a Robin/Starfire either, why, 'cuz I just don't feel like writing it. That's all from me, don't forget to review.


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans 

I'm glad for the reviews that I'm getting, few as they may be, but they're there. 

" " - speech 

' ' - thought 

( ) author's notes 

- dreamscape 

- telepathy 

The Titan 

Chapter 4 

Cowritten by Nate and Felicia

* * *

Mammoth stooped slightly to pick up the crate, wedging his fingers beneath it. With an almighty heave, he lifted it, placing it on his shoulders, making him look like a Bizzarro version of Atlas (not the robot, the titan forced to hold up the Earth or sky, depends on who you read). He grunted as he moved for the door, stopping when he saw a silhouette in the door, and groaned when he heard the usual battle cry. 

"TITANS, GO!" Robin yelled, then leapt into action. 

"Not again," the gargantuan teen sighed, before throwing the box at the boy wonder. 

Only to have it grabbed by a dark energy, and cast aside. Raven phased through the floor and got into a ready stance. Cyborg entered through another entrance, cracking his knuckles and neck (I'm not sure how he can crack his knuckles, does he have knuckles?). 

"Hey, where are the others?" Robin said looking around for Jinx and Gizmo. 'It's not like Mammoth to work alone.' 

Casting the thought aside, he attacked, charging for Mammoth, but got hit by a pink, blade-like hex, cast by Jinx herself. Stepping from the shadows in the corner, she proceeded to throw her hexes everywhere. 

"Mammoth, grab the crate and let's go," she yelled over. 

"Don't think so," Cyborg leveled his sonic cannon on Mammoth, but felt a slight weight on his back. 

"Hey fart-sniffer," came the annoying nasal voice of the group tech expert. "Time to fry!" 

He placed a small box on Cyborg's back, but the required reaction to it never came. The man/bot reached over his shoulder and grabbed the child genius, pulling him off. He tsk'd at him a few times before throwing him like a football. Gizmo, however, was ready, and soon had a pair of wings with which to fly with. Those didn't last long as a green starbolt stuck, destroying one, and sending him to the floor. What's the saying, ah yes, down but not out, four long, spider-like legs erupted from the backpack, lifting him. 

Raven was being pushed back, her shields constantly getting destroyed by Jinx's hexes; at such close range, they were quite devastating. She was soon forced to fall onto her back, and quickly phased back into the floor. She came up behind the hexmistress and grabbed her arm, pulling it behind her back, and pushing it up between her shoulder blades. Jinx screamed slightly in pain at the harsh, restricting movement. 

"Got you now," Raven allowed a small smile on her lips. 

"Raven, look out!" she heard Robin yell, before she was hit by a large crate, thrown by Mammoth. 

"Agh!" she was forced against the far wall by the inertia. 

"Hmph," Jinx was soon powering an extra large hex for her, when she felt a sudden pain in her lower back. 

Beast Boy had charged her in the form of a ram, knocking her to the floor, and causing the hex to dissipate. He changed back and was almost instantly at Raven's side, checking her for any injuries. Luckily she was just unconscious, with no serious injuries. 

"Hey, Robin, think this is a diversion?" Cyborg yelled from where he was holding two of Gizmo's legs. 

"Possibly, it might explain why Sunfire and Terra aren't here," he replied as he threw a bolo at Mammoth's legs. 

The restraining device wrapped perfectly around the genetically enhanced human's ankles, and tore with ease as he took a step.

* * *

Sunfire and Terra stood side-by-side, looking up at the monster known as Plasmus. Sunfire looked the creature up, then down, then at his hands, then back at the pile of moving goop. Oh how he wanted to just lay down some smack on that thing, but knew he had to hold back, for his sake, and the Titan next to him. 

"Terra, I've got an idea," he said quietly, not wanting to alert the villain to their presence just yet. 

"What is it?" 

"Lift the road around him, trap him in a sphere, and leave no holes for him to ooze from." 

"Got it," she thrust he hands out, eyes glowing, and lifted a large portion of the street. "AAAAHHHHHH!" 

It seemed to be working, Plasmus looked around with a dumb look on his face, trying to find the source of the interruption. He saw the two standing about twenty feet away, and instantly threw one of his arms at them. The appendage stretched longer, and longer, covering the distance between him and them almost effortlessly. But, it was all for not, as it hit Sunfire's shield, the shock traveling back up the arm, disintegrating it. 

Plasmus screeched in pain, and frustration as the road closed around him, sealing him in. The edges were then melted, the liquid tar running together to make it impregnable. Sunfire let out a small sigh as the sphere was lowered to the ground, the sounds of Plasmus trying to escape could be heard within. He stepped forward and placed his hand on the prison. 

"Sleep now, it's okay, sleep forever," he whispered, and the noises within changed from pounding, to snoring. "Excellent work, Terra." 

"Hehe, thanks," she scratched the back of her head. 

"Now, let's get him back to prison," he kept his hand where it was, and the sphere vanished, obviously reappearing in the prison courtyard. "We should find the others." 

"Right."

* * *

"HIVE, move out," Jinx yelled and ran through the open door. 

"So long booger brains," Gizmo quipped as he followed her. 

Mammoth? Well, Mammoth didn't say anything, he just ran through the door, taking out a small head-shaped piece from the top. They soon disappeared from sight, most likely heading back to base. 

"Are we just gonna let them get away?" Beast Boy asked. 

"Oh, they won't get far," Robin smirked as he held up his communicator, showing a tracking screen. 

"Nice." 

"Friends, please, we must return Raven to the tower, she is not fairing well," Starfire said from over by Raven. 

The sorceress was, indeed, not looking well, she had a trail of blood running down her face. The alien had her arm under Raven's shoulders, while one of the magus' arms was thrown over her own, for better support. A look of worry was plastered on Starfire's face, as she watched the blood drip from Raven's chin to the floor, forming a small puddle. 

"What did we miss?" Sunfire asked as he ran through the door, Terra is hot pursuit. 

"Just an attack by the HIVE," Robin shrugged then got angry. "WHERE WERE YOU TWO?!" 

"Taking care of Plasmus," Sunfire said calmly. "You're welcome." 

Robin, who had been ready to give Sunfire another lecture, dropped his arms in defeat and turned back to Raven. She was beginning to moan, and he had a feeling it was Starfire's attempts to wake her up by shaking her. The next instant, Starfire was thrown back against the wall. 

"Don't touch me," Raven said with a hint of darkness in her voice. 

"Raven, you are hurt, you need medical assistance," Starfire came back with a jumble of worried thoughts put into sentences. 

"She can heal herself," Sunfire turned and began to move towards the door. "So get to it and let's go." 

Raven was taken aback by that, and calmed down immensely. He knew, how did he know she could heal herself or others? Unless...he had been chipping away at those memories of hers inside his head. It was possible, but she didn't like that thought; if he got too far, he'd come across some things she didn't want anyone to see.

* * *

A week had passed since Terra's homecoming, and things had gotten pretty much back to normal. Sunfire had kept his word, and hadn't killed anyone, though he had come close with the Great Mumbo (I think that was his name). The little magician had been working his last nerve with all those stupid parlor tricks. Now there was the HIVE to contend with, he had read their files in the computer, they didn't seem like that much of a threat. 

"Now that we know where the HIVE base is, should we go in and bust up the place?" Beast Boy asked. 

They were all gathered around the large viewing screen, which was showing a map. It had two symbols on it, one was a 'T,' symbolizing their position, the other was an 'H,' symbolizing the HIVE postition. 

"No, this is going to take some finesse," Robin said from his spot in the center. "This is the closest we've come to the HIVE." 

"So you want someone to infiltrate it?" Sunfire asked from the right of the screen. 

"Oh yeah, I'm the man for the job," Beast Boy jumped up. 

"Yeah, a green kid, they'll never know it's you," Raven droned in her sarcastic monotone. "We need someone a bit more 'normal.'" 

"I must agree with Raven, she has a point," Starfire said from here position behind Raven. "You would stand out to much." 

"What do you think, Cyborg?" Robin asked the metal man, who, until now, had just been standing there. 

It was about that time is head popped off, and the body fell over. Everyone jumped back slightly, looking down at the seemingly broken Cyborg. 

"Oops, guess it needs some tweaking," they turned and saw Cyborg enter the room, holding a game controller. "How do you like my replacement?" 

"It's...uh...nice?" Terra asked tentatively. "What's it for?" 

They all looked at her, except for Sunfire, who was behind her, and was still concentrating on the robot. A collective sigh was released, and Robin spoke up. 

"It's so that anyone watching us will think that Cyborg is still here, while he's infiltrating the HIVE." 

"How's he gonna get in, if you haven't noticed, he's half metal," Beast Boy said, gesturing to the robotic components of Cyborg'g body. 

Cyborg pushed the changeling off him and then braced his feet against the floor, slamming two rings on his middle fingers together. The change was instantaneous, a layer of skin appeared on his body, and clothes formed as well. He stood and smiled down at everyone. 

"Cy-man, what just happened?" 

"Glorious, you have become whole," Starfire bounced up and down. 

"It's a holographic projection, Star," Robin said from where he was leaning on the console. 

"It won't work." 

All eyes were now on Sunfire, who had his arms crossed and eyes closed. Skeptical looks crossed everyone's faces, except Terra's. Even she knew what he was talking about. He stepped forward and placed he hand against Cyborg's chest, his hand passing right through the hologram. The hand was then pulled from the hologram, as if to demonstrate the futility of it. 

"See, if anyone touches any part of him, they'll feel the cold metal underneath," he had made his point, and was now waiting for a reaction. 

"But, then who should go, he's the only one who can communicate with us without being spottedm" Robin said, trying to make his own point. "Maybe we could rig something up, make his skin feel warmer." 

"I could go," they heard an unfamiliar voice, and turned to see, instead of Sunfire, someone completely different. 

Green hair was pulled back into a long braid, tank top going from tight and black, to loose and green, and his pants had changed from white to black. The only thing that remained the same were his boots, even his forearm bracers were gone. As they watched, a long scar appeared, starting from just above his right eye, and passing right through it. Eyes had changed from a light golden color (I know, at the beginning I said they were green, but shouldn't eye color correspond with starbolt color?) to a pale green. 

"..." they were all speechless at this sudden turn of events. 

"DUDE, when they hell did you learn that?" Beast Boy almost screamed, his signature power was now taken, and it appeared to have been amped up for the alien. 

"Long time ago, I forget when," he shrugged. "So, am I going or not?" 

"You'll need a way of communicating with us," Robin said with a hand on his chin. 

/Not a problem/ the voice, it was in their heads. 

"Okay, I guess you got the job." 

"So, when do I start?" 

"You enroll tomorrow."

* * *

We change to an almost peaceful cafeteria scene the next day, and the changed Sunfire, now known as Nate Sindel (ha, I did get into the story), strode over to a table. He placed the tray down and started eating, wanting to be as unnoticeable as he could be. But even the best-made plans are doomed to fail. As he lifted his sandwich, a hand came down over his shoulder and grabbed it. 

"I finished mine, so I'll finish yours?" came a gruff voice from behind him. 

He looked over his shoulder, sighting Jinx, Gizmo, and Mammoth, who had just tossed the sandwich down his throat. Recognizing them from the file photos he was shown, it struck him dumb that these were the top students at the HIVE. The sorceress placed her hand on her hips, and Gizmo smirked at the new student. 

"This is our table, you gotta move," Jinx said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. 

"Fine," he smiled as he placed his hand on the table before getting up. 

A crack formed in the table, spreading outward from where his hand had been. Soon the entire table was covered with tiny crevices, and, a few seconds later, it fell apart at the seams. The pieces that hit the floor continued to disintegrate, changing to dust in a matter of moments. With that done, the dust simply blew away in the slight wind caused by the AC. 

"Looks like you need a new table," he laughed before starting to walk away. 

"What's your name?" the hex-girl asked before he was out of earshot. 

"The name's Sindel," he turned slightly, then started walking again. "I suggest you remember that." 

Jinx suddenly felt a very strange feeling, a feeling of warmth and comfort. Her eyes became heavy, and her posture slouched slightly as she watched him leave the room. Gizmo took note of this, and glared at the green braid as it slipped out the door. Mammoth looked down at both of them, and chuckled slightly to himself; the crush Gizmo had on their teammate was quite obvious.

* * *

/Alright, I've assimilated easily to the HIVE, expect another report when I've found something/ Sunfire sent the telepathic message to Raven, she would be able to hear him better than the others, and could pass it on. 

He stepped into a coliseum-like room, stepping up on a platform alongside the three he'd met at lunch. Jinx was at the front of the group, with Gizmo and Mammoth on either side. A horn sounded, and all three of them leapt into action. 

"Attack pattern alpha," Jinx yelled to the others. 

"Wait a second, I don't know that one," Sunfire ran after them, feeling that he should act the part. 

"Then just stay out of our way crap-bagger," Gizmo sneered as he rocketed forward, the wings on his backpack had been fixed. 

Towers raised from the floor all around the, electrowhips slicing through the air to snap at the three teens. Gizmo was first to go down, the shock to his system was enough to leave him smoking on the floor. Mammoth was next, the whips wrapping around his wrists, ankles, and waist, shocking him to his knees. Jinx was last, throwing her hexes all around her, destroying a few towers. But her attention had been drawn from what was happening below her. 

Right under her feet, another tower lifted up, four whips extended from the holes near the top. All of them wrapped around her, delivering a massive shock, which would have been the end of her, had the tower not been blown to pieces. Sunfire adjusted his aim and launched three green starbolts at the remaining towers, destroying them completely. He then grabbed Jinx, around the waist, and Mammoth, by the back of his shirt, on his way to the goal, deciding that Gizmo was the most expendable. 

He leapt to the pedestal at the other end of the arena, placing the others on the ground. Turning, he saw the objective, a small glass case, with a chip inside it. He places his hand against it and removed it, watching the glass fall apart before his very eyes. Picking up the chip, he was met with cheers and applause, particularly from the old man wearing the robe. 

"I don't believe I've seen you here before," the man said as he extended his hand. "What's your name?" 

"Sindel, Nate Sindel," he said shaking the man's hand, feeling the surprisingly strong grip. "And you, sir?" 

"You may call me Blood, Brother Blood," the old man smiled. "I can see you're going to go far in this place." 

His gaze then turned to the recovering teens. 

"As for you, if I ever see you act like such amateurs again, I'll string you up and skin you alive," his voice had changed, it became deeper, more malevolent. "Now, get out of my sight, and grab that child while you're at it." 

He was talking, of course, of Gizmo, who had yet to get up.

* * *

Sunfire sat at a desk, in the dark, hands flying over the keyboard in front of him. This was too easy for his liking; it was like Blood wanted his students to know everything that was going on. He had to admit, though, this did make his job much easier. Soon he found what he was looking for. 

"So, that's what it is," he said quietly, about to send a message to the others. 

He was stopped short, though, when a knock came to his door. The screen before him changed to the desktop, and he got up to answer it. On the other side were Jinx, Gizmo, and Mammoth who had his hand behind his back. Gizmo looked especially surly, while Jinx and Mammoth looked more indifferent. 

"Yes?" 

"Hehe, now that you've survived the first few days, it's time for your initiation," Jinx smiled wide as Mammoth produced a tutu and a unicycle. 

Sunfire looked them up and down, one conclusion coming to mind. 

"Seems easy enough," he shrugged. 

"Don't jump to conclusions," Mammoth smirked, handing him the unicycle. "You gotta eat that." 

"Hm, whole, or in pieces?" 

"Either way, I guess." 

Sunfire wasn't listening, he already had the unicycle down his throat, the wheel sticking out of his mouth. A few seconds later, that too was gone, and he was swallowing the hunk of metal and rubber. A very disturbing 'PLUNCH!' sound emanated from his stomach, causing the three HIVE members to shudder slightly. 

"Now you gotta wear this all day tomorrow, and carry my books," Jinx tossed him the tutu, a almost unnoticeable wink followed.

* * *

"Why hasn't he checked in, he's way overdue," Robin paced back and forth in front of the others. 

"You don't think he turned, do you?" Beast Boy wondered aloud. 

He was promptly smacked in the back of the head by Terra. 

"Don't even think that," she said calmly, though her clenched fists told them she was thinking the same thing. "He wouldn't, I know he wouldn't." 

Starfire settled next to her worried friend, attempting to calm her nerves with a friendly arm around the shoulders. It wasn't just Terra who was taking this somewhat badly; Raven wasn't fairing too well either. She tried to mask it from the others, saying she just had questions to be answered. Which she did, but there was something about Sunfire, and it had something to do with the fact that her memories resided in his head, just as his resided in hers. 

"Something must have happened," Robin continued, believing that was the only explaination. 

/Calm down, nothing's happened/ they turned to Raven, the voice had come from her mouth; he was speaking through her. /I've been a bit busy/ 

"Sunfire, what do you have to report?" 

/Well, I've found out that the new headmaster calls himself Brother Blood/ Raven's eyes flashed something, but the next instant it was gone. /I've had to keep my messages brief, because I think he can pick up my thoughts/ 

"Alright, now what are they working on?" 

/Oh, many things, mainly an ion disruption unit/ there was a small pause, and the others held their breath. /Sorry bout that, I gotta go before I'm late for class/ 

Raven shook her head as control was given back to her. She knew it was wrong, yet it was oddly satisfying to have someone else in control of her body. Allowing a small smile to grace her fair lips, she pulled her hood up, keeping it hidden from everyone else. It wasn't just the feeling from having her body manipulated, but also the knowledge that he was okay. 

"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait for his next message," Robin conceded as he sat on the couch. 

Cyborg handed him a game controller, which he gladly accepted.

* * *

Blackfire and Moonfire were definately taking their time getting to their destination; moving along at an almost snail's pace compared to the speed they were capable of. The patience on the Tamaranean princess was running thin, and the secrecy of her companion wasn't helping. She knew he wasn't telling her something, and, being who she was, that's what was really pulling on her last nerve. 

"Why are we going so slow, I mean, sublight is just so boring," she whined. 

Moonfire just laughed a little behind his cloak, "Because, if we go too fast, we'll miss the sights; besides, there's no hurry, it's not like they're going anywhere." 

Blackfire huffed her disapproval, but knew he had a point. From what he told her about Sunfire, he would be sure to protect her sister, at all costs. That alone made her dislike him all the more, any friend of her sister's was an enemy of hers. But was that really all there was to this, she had her powers, shouldn't that alone be enough of a reason to drop this contempt she felt towards her younger sister. 

"Don't forget, your parents chose her over you," Moonfire said with a hint of mirth in his voice. "But, truly, it was probably for the best." 

"Why do you say that?" 

"Think about it, with her as queen, she'll have to choose an advisor," he turned those dark eyes on her again. "The best choice for which would be you." 

"You're right, maybe I should go easy on her this time around," she looked thoughtfully at a red giant, the color reminding her of her sister's hair. 

Moonfire was waiting patiently for the denouncement of that statement, but it never came. He smiled, so she was finally growing up, it took her long enough. All the contempt for her sister was now flowing out of her as she watched that star, at the coronal eruptions, throwing flames out into the depths of space. 

"It's beautiful," Moonfire followed her gaze, the red from the star illuminating his pupils, making his eyes look even more foreboding. 

"Yeah."

* * *

"Sindel, what is the proper way to begin a city-wide take over," Blood asked from his position at the head of the class. 

"Huh, oh, a good diversion plan to divide your enemies, so you can take them down one at a time?" Sunfire guessed looking somewhat foolish; all part of the act. 

"Exactly right, you all could learn from him." 

"Smart and cute, how come you're all alone?" Jinx sighed from the seat next to his, hearts floating in the air around her head. 

Gizmo, in the seat on the other side of Jinx, was fuming at how she could be fawning over someone she just met. Especially when he's been here the whole time, and hadn't even gotten so much as a smile out of her. He hated when that guy would make that face, the shy/innocent smile that was now covering Sindel's face. It seemed to just make Jinx melt on the spot, which she apparently did. 

'Just keep up the act, Sunfire, it'll be over soon,' he thought, then looked down at the girl next to him. 'But I might as well enjoy it while I have the chance.' 

TBC 

Okay, ending it there, for some reason I've just had this itch to continue with this story. I've paid so much attention to my TS story, that this one, and my KP story were cast aside. But no longer, here's the new plan, while I'm in this state of mind, I'll be doing a story a week. One chapter for this story, on for TS, one for KP, and, if there's time left, I can write for my other neglected stories (particularly "The Dragon"). Not to mention my account. I've been meaning to write for that, but there's been no motivation. Oh well, look forward to the next chapter in a few weeks; I'm taking some time off to beta read the chapters for Leviathan's fictionpress story.


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans 

I'm glad for the reviews that I'm getting, few as they may be, but they're there. 

" " - speech 

' ' - thought 

( ) author's notes 

- dreamscape 

- telepathy 

The Titan 

Chapter 5 

Cowritten by Nate and Felicia

* * *

Sunfire walked calmly into the cafeteria, his time at the HIVE Academy seeming to pass by in a blur. He couldn't remember how long he'd been there, and Jinx wasn't helping. Despite her name, the girl seemed to bring bad luck only upon those she disliked, or who deserved it. It was going to be hard to tell her who he was, but he knew it had to be done. Given that this place was fun, he still couldn't wait to leave. 

"Yo, Nate, over here," the girl who'd just been plaguing his thoughts waved him over. 

He nodded briefly before getting in the lunch line; there was still the issue of food. The meals here were good, the food surprisingly not as disgusting as he'd thought. It couldn't hold a candle to some of the cuisine he'd experienced throughout his travels, but it was sustenance. Grabbing a tray, he stepped up to the counter and a plate was slid onto it. Alongside was a bottle of water, some utensils, and a small cup of jello. 

Finished there, he made his way over to the table and slid into the seat next to Jinx. She seemed overly happy about something, and it wasn't that he'd just sat down. The pink-haired girl was literally bouncing lightly in her seat, a smile plastered on her lips. He was cautious, reading minds here was something he was trying to avoid, Blood had already caught him once, but, hey, the kid had it coming. 

'So he still sleeps with a teddy bear, who cares,' he smirked at the memory, 'the whole school deserved to know.' 

"So, Nate, have you heard about Friday?" Jinx asked, her bouncing had ceased, now she was simply rocking back and forth. 

"I heard something about an event, but not what it was," he said as he hefted a spoonful of what the lunch lady called "mashed potatoes." 

"Really, you must sit in your room all day and study to have not heard about it," she grinned slyly, the look putting Sunfire a bit at ease. "There's gonna be a dance, and I was wondering..." 

His eyebrow raised as her look changed, the grin was still there, just smaller, as she was biting her lower lip. He couldn't help but akin the expression to that of a child caught with their hand in the _tenep_ jar. She looked so innocent and cute like that, he would have given anything to see a certain someone else with that expression. 

'Raven...' 

"...Would you like to go with me?" she finished her question after a moment's hesitation. 

"Sure," he agreed instantly, wanting to make her think he'd wanted this all along, "but I don't know how to dance." 

"Don't worry about it, I'll teach you," the smirk changed again, from cute to mischievous, which was still cute in its own right. 

"Better idea," he said as his hand lifted, finger outstretched, and placed the tip of it against her forehead. 

The information transfer was one way this time, he'd been practicing. There were plenty of mice to experiment on; they were the only things here he could use, the only thing that wouldn't be able to divulge any information. But, just the other day, he had finally gotten it right, and now he was going to use it to its full potential. Removing his hand from her head, the hexmistress looked slightly out of it for a second, having just had her mind probed. 

"What did you do?" she asked as the woozy feeling wore off. 

"I found the information in your brain and made a copy of it. So I know everything you know about dancing," he smiled, poking her nose with the finger he'd just used. 

It was at that moment that Mammoth and Gizmo got to the table, the latter already fuming at the scene before him. The former simply smirked at the child genius, he knew for a fact that neither of them stood a chance against the new guy. But, as always, it was worth a try, as they both chuckled when Gizmo tossed a small sphere, no bigger than a marble, into Sunfire's mashed potatoes. 

He saw this, though, and, while the two boys tried to look innocent and dug into their food, he slipped his fork under it, lobbing it into Gizmo's food. Jinx noticed this too, and she couldn't help but start giggling that insane, musical giggle that could easily charm any evil supervillain. Sunfire simply smirked a little wider, and scooped his food up in moderate, dignified proportions. 

It didn't take long for a resounding beep to echo off the walls of room, and Gizmo's food exploded into his face. The other three, who had all been looking on with great interest, burst into loud fits of laughter. Jinx held her stomach, rocking back and forth. Mammoth covered his face, dragging the hand down while still laughing as hard he could. Sunfire had dropped back, hanging off the back of the bench, mainly from his laughing, but also to avoid the handful of veggies that the runt threw at him. 

Those veggies hit the person behind him, causing that person to turn and fling their potatoes at Gizmo. A massive food fight broke out from there. Everyone started throwing food at everyone else, except Sunfire, who was still holding himself parallel to the floor. Anything that came at him was deflected toward someone else. But the fight didn't last long as Brother Blood stepped into the room, and was hit in the face by some jello. 

"STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!" he yelled, to which everyone dropped whatever they were holding and looked decidedly sorry. "Who started this, tell me now or there will be a caning for all of you." 

Every face turned to the corner of the room, and every finger pointed at one person...Gizmo. 

"Gizmo, come here," Blood's cool, calm voice sent shivers down everyone's spines as his eyes turned red. 

Once the boy had reached the headmaster, he was immediately grabbed by the ear and yanked through the doors. Someone shook their head, making a "tsk, tsk, tsk" sound; they were instantly pelted with what food remained on the plates. It was then that everyone looked at everyone else, and saw that there was no one, with the exception of Sunfire, that wasn't covered in food from head to toe. They all started laughing, no reason really, it was just funny that they all fingered the same person, even those who had no clue who had started it. 

'Well, it seems that there's one person who gets on everyone's bad side,' Sunfire thought as he cleaned the room with a flick of his wrist. "There, one less thing for Blood to bitch about." 

"Awwww, he would have made Gizmo clean it," Jinx whimpered slightly, a pout firmly placed on her face. 

"Really?" another flick of the wrist, and the mess was back, twice as bad as before. "There we go, does that meet your approval?" 

"Verily," she said and giggled a little.

* * *

Raven floated above the tower, her concentration constantly broken by her thoughts of him. Why did it feel good when her body was under his control, it wasn't just that it wasn't her problem anymore, it was something else. The memories of his in her head were helpful at times, but it was hard getting through the barrier. Usually it simply gave to her the information it believed she needed, but that meant it could tap into her mind whenever it wanted. 

That just made her even more uneasy; no one was allowed in her mind, but it was hard to stop it. She had the idea to traverse into her mind and try talking to it, but found that to be a foolish idea. How was she supposed to talk to something she didn't understand? This was all so confusing to her, and even more so without him here to explain it; he did seem to have a surprising number of answers for someone with amnesia. Even if she was confused, and hated her thoughts being churned by him, she couldn't help but wonder how he was doing. 

'Sunfire...' she looked up at the stars, their glow somehow warming her. 

"Friend Raven, would you mind some company?" Starfire asked from the door. 

"Sure, Star, I've been having some disturbing thoughts lately," the sorceress said as she patted the air beside her. 

"If you would like to discuss these thoughts, I am here to help," the Tamaranean princess said as she floated next to Raven. "Are they about...him?" 

"Some of them, but most are about what he told us in his last message," she continued to look at the city, in the direction of the HIVE. "This 'Brother Blood' sounds like someone we should be concerned with." 

"I must agree, the way he controls all that go on in that place has, how you say, 'irked' me," Starfire looked to Raven for confirmation on her use of the word, the goth nodded. "He sounds like a very powerful entity." 

"He is, if Sunfire's afraid to send use a message, then Blood must be seen as a top priority threat." 

"Raven, why do you speak with such concern for Sunfire?" 

Raven looked at Starfire with an almost unreadable expression on her face. It wasn't really emotionless, but there was a hint of something that the alien had almost never seen before. There was no name for what she saw, but she knew she had seen it before. Her sister had once had that face when being scolded, but couldn't believe it. 

"He is a criminal, after all," she continued. 

"I'm not entirely sure, Star. Sure, he did all that, but from what memories I've received from him, it seems there was someone else in control," the cloaked girl looked at the roof. "Someone else was pulling the strings, using his body to commit those crimes." 

"But that is not possible," Starfire shook her head, she was not going to disbelieve everything she had been taught. "He is not capable of being controlled, only of taking control, he did so to you twice already." 

"You don't understand, I can see it, I can see the one who controlled him," her feet touched down and she turned for the door. "There is another, Starfire, and if you cannot believe me, who will you believe?" 

The alien was taken aback by what was just said; sure, Raven snapped at everyone, but never with such intensity. 

"I am sorry for offending you, Raven, it is hard to denounce what was told to me by my father," Starfire looked to be on the verge of tears; she had not meant to make Raven mad. 

"You'll have to, because the other is coming." 

The door closed with those words, and the redhead was left on the roof alone, still floating, still on the verge of tears, and still confused. To believe Raven would have been denying her people, the people she trusted above all others. But did she trust her friends on Earth above all others, haven't they shown her true kindness and love, wasn't it their word she should believe?

* * *

Sunfire levitated in his room, hands placed in their usual position on his lap. He had changed back to his natural form, finding it easier to meditate this way. There was something wrong with his meditation tonight, as if there was someone else in his head at the moment. The words were in his head, always the same, _"Kill them all, kill them all."_ He tried to shake the thoughts from his head, but they stuck firm; the voice was like his, but darker, more sibilant. Whatever he tried, it was no use; the voice was there to stay, it seemed. 

"No," he said quietly, his breathing regular. 

_"What, how dare you,"_ the voice spoke, _"kill them all, I command it."_

"You don't control me anymore," Sunfire said, his breathing still flat, even. 

A jolt ran through his head, the pain reminding him of that pain so long ago. His hands flew to his head, desperately trying to keep it from ripping in half. He dropped to the floor, rolling around with the pain, his body felt as if it were being torn every which way. The shirt he wore was engulfed in flames and fell from his writhing body. His hair color was changing from gold to black, starting at the roots and tips, moving up along the stands. 

Concentrating as hard as he could, he forced himself back into position, doing his best to ignore the pain in his head. His legs folded beneath him, and he floated a bit, the scars on his back pulsing and radiating small bursts of lightening. The pain was most intense there, like his back was tearing itself to pieces in response to his constant defiance. If the voice wanted a fight, he was damn well not going to back down. He pushed his mind outward, forcing his astral self along the link, back to the source of the voice. 

"No one controls me," he said through gritted teeth.

* * *

On a planet several light-years from Earth, Moonfire and Blackfire had taken a rest in some ancient ruins. The ruins looked to have been made by Buddhists, with the tall arches and the hundreds of steps leading up to the temple. It had been overgrown with vines and vegetation over the years, but that didn't make it an unsuitable place for the two of them. Moonfire found the vibrations from the temple to be quite adequate for his meditation. 

"I wish to be alone," he said as he practically threw Blackfire out of the temple gates. 

"'I wish to be alone,'" she said in a mocking voice as she dusted herself off. "He's beginning to cramp my style." 

Moonfire heard what she said, but he could care less; Sunfire was what was important now, and the boy was so close he could taste him. All that power, and only half a mind to use it, it was a shame; something had to be done about that. He casually made his way to the very center of the temple; a massive, round room with an open roof, so one could gaze at the stars. His motives for seeing the stars were a little different, though, he had to be able to see the patron star of the planet Sunfire was on. 

"Soon, Sunfire, soon you will once again be my instrument of destruction," he got into the same position Sunfire had been in, and began broadcasting his control. "Kill them all, kill them all."   
  
_"No."_

"What, how dare you," he growled, "kill them all, I command it." 

_"You don't control me anymore."_

Moonfire had had enough of this, and sent jolt after of jolt of pain to every receiver in his target's body. If they had to do this the same way as before, then so be it. He knew Sunfire, if he felt the unbearable, relentless, and uninhibited pain that Moonfire could produce, then he would bow to any wish the dark Tamaranean had. But something was wrong this time, he was resisting the pain, pushing it out of his mind. He concentrated harder, his hair, what could be seen around the cloak, began to change from black to gold, starting at the roots and tips. 

_"No one controls me."_

The gold instantly disappeared, and Moonfire was thrown back against the wall. A sickening crunch resounded through the temple, and surrounding area. Blackfire rushed into the room, seeing her fallen companion, she was about to run to his aid, but a rock narrowly missing her head stopped her. He began to stand, the look in his eyes could only have been Rage. 

"HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU I WISH TO BE ALONE?!" he shouted as a few more stones were thrown at the elder princess. "GET OUT!" 

"Fine," she scoffed and jumped out of the way of another rock, this one with a sharp edge carved in it. "That's the last time I'm concerned for your health." 

Moonfire was, for lack of a better term, extremely pissed off. 

"If I want your concern, I'll force it from you," he yelled after her. "No one does that to me and remains free." 

He was going to make Sunfire pay, he was going to take the thing that fool treasured most away, he was going to take...that girl. Yes, the girl, the one that his counterpart seemed to care so deeply for. It was going to be such fun for him, the most he'd had in a long time.

* * *

A green mouse scampered through the halls of the HIVE academy, looking for any signs of trouble. When none were found, the mouse grew into a young, green boy. Beast Boy signaled to the others that the coast was clear, and the other five rounded the corner. The Titans, having not received a communication from Sunfire in almost a week, decided to move in. 

"Okay, now, if the schematics we have are correct, the arena should be through these doors," Robin said looking at his communicator. 

"Want me to check it out?" Beast Boy asked as he was about to shift into a mouse again. 

"No, Raven you take a look, I think a shadow would be less conspicuous than a mouse." 

"Right," she nodded and melted into the floor. 

The shadow that was Raven made it to the door, and was stopped by a barrier. She reformed in the hall, holding her head, having run head on into it. But there was no time for anyone to say anything, as the doors opened; the arena awaited them. The lights were on, and the stands full of students, all of them eagerly watching as the Titans entered. 

"Welcome, Teen Titans," the old man at the other end of the stadium said, "to the HIVE Academy. I do hope you enjoy your visit." 

He clapped his hands once, and the floor in front of him opened, a platform rising into position. On it were three teens, in the middle was Sunfire - still in his guise of Nate Sindel - was in the center, with Mammoth to his right, and Jinx to his left. A smile was on his face as he looked them over, hoping to X'hal they would play along. Now was not the time to use telepathy, what with his proximity to Blood; the old man would pick it up, and know exactly what was going on. 

"Now, I do hope you'll give us a good show, some of my newer students need to see some actual combat," he waved his hand to signal the start. 

"I've been waiting for this," Sunfire hissed as he looked first to Jinx then to Mammoth. "Attack pattern omega, ready...GO!" 

The three of them launched forwards, Mammoth heading straight for Cyborg and Beast Boy, who had already taken the form of a T-rex. The burly teen collided with Cyborg, his massive fist slamming into the metal man's face. Using Cyborg's surprise to his advantage, Mammoth grabbed him by the ankles and used him as a bat to whale (wail?) Beast Boy upside his dinosaur head. 

The green monster went down, changing from the prehistoric beast to a hawk, flying up, out of reach. Mammoth tossed his bat to the side, and thrust his hand against the floor, breaking off a piece to throw at the bird. Beast Boy instantly changed from a bird to a humpback whale, attempting the same maneuver he tried against Atlas, and dropped. But the altered human was too fast, able to leap aside before getting crushed. 

Jinx had decided to take the two on the left (or right, depends on which side you want to stand behind), who just happened to be Raven and Terra. She threw hex after hex at them; Raven barely able to keep up a barrier, while Terra was attempting to stone the pink-haired sorceress. Her attempts were in vain, as all the rocks were sliced in two by the blade-like hexes. The blonde finally got fed up with it and opted to "shake things up," as the saying goes. Large cracks appeared in the floor, and Jinx almost lost her footing, but stood fast, continuing to fling her hexes. 

Raven switched from defensive to offensive, trying her luck at getting behind Jinx again. She dropped into the floor, moving along swiftly in shadow, knowing it was just a few more feet. When she had almost reached her target, she felt a searing pain tear across her back. Materializing, she saw that she was right in front of the enemy, who had taken a step back in surprise, but was, nonetheless, ready. Casting out her powers, she grabbed two boulders, one on either side of Jinx, and attempted to crush her. Unfortunately, Jinx was prepared, and quickly cut the two boulders in half. But, fortunately for the good guys, her attention was taken from Terra, who grabbed two stones, and hurtled them at Jinx, one catching her in the stomach, the other was cut short by a blast of green. 

Sunfire was content with his choice of Robin and Starfire, knowing that they would see through his act if he didn't use his full strength. Course, that didn't stop him from venting a little frustration, as his knee collided almost full-force with Robin's stomach. Said knee carried the leader of the Titans through the air, and into the wall, slamming Robin, literally, between a rock and a hard place. Sunfire stepped back and deflected a few of Starfire's starbolts with a few of his own, the color changed, of course. He then fired a volley of almost a dozen starbolts at her, in rapid succession, not even having to move his hands to "throw" them. A little less than half of them struck her, but it was enough to send her to the floor. 

"What are you doing?" Robin asked as he stood from the floor. 

"Just play along," Sunfire whispered. "Starfire knows how, why not you?" 

"What, play along, are you..." he never got to finished as his "enemy" thrust his fist into his already bruised stomach. "Ergh!" 

Blood watched the scene with great interest, his team was doing extremely well since taking Gizmo off and keeping Sindel on. One thing bothered him, though, the blonde, she looked familiar, like he had seen her somewhere before, but couldn't quite remember. His gaze was torn from her as Sindel and Jinx leapt to the middle of the room, back to back, this was the move he was waiting to see. 

Visualizing the music in their minds, the two of them locked arms and began to dance. The dance involved many turns and bows, one of which almost led to Jinx becoming one with the floor. All these moves were necessary, though, as they dodged starbolts, and boulders, thrown by Raven and Terra, as well as birdarangs, and blasts from Cyborg's sonic cannon. Finally they got to the finale, where he grasped Jinx's hand, looking at her for her consent, to which she nodded, and her flung her around, spinning on one foot while her arms spread out. Sunfire and Mammoth dropped to the ground as long strings of hexes launched from her hands. 

Every Titan was hit, most of them getting thrown back against the walls. The only one who wasn't so severely effected was Beast Boy, who had turned into a tortoise at the last second. Weakened, they all began to stand again, ready to fight, all but Cyborg, who appeared to be too damaged. Sunfire and Mammoth stood, looking almost amazed that they could have survived Jinx's "ultimate technique," as she put it. The disguised Tamaranean wasn't really surprised, he was more concerned with their condition. 

"That's enough, Terra," Blood said as he stood from his seat. Everyone turned to look at Terra, who was looking even more confused than anyone else, then at Brother Blood. "Yes, I was wondering where I had seen you before, though I never thought I'd see the day my child would come back to me." 

"What are you talking about, I've never seen you before in my life," she yelled back, looking almost fearfully at her friends. "It's the truth, I don't know what he's talking about." 

"We believe you Terra, stay calm," Robin said as he glared, or at least I think he was glaring, at Blood. 

"Of course you don't remember, you were taken from me when you so very young," he continued to speak, not really caring about the others now. "Where do you think you got those powers? Sure no normal human could give birth to someone as extraordinary as you, you were created by me. You were the only one to survive, out of almost fifteen separate experiments." 

"Th-that's not true, my parents..." 

"Ah yes, Mr. and Mrs. Markov, they were quite the nuisance, not wanting to give you up when I came for you," he shrugged, as if the rest of the story told itself. "They just sent you off on your own, knowing that I would be unable to find you. But then, a couple years ago, you were brought to my attention by Slade, he said he'd found a promising applicant for his apprentice." 

"What do you know about Slade?" Robin yelled up at the old man. 

"Silence," he flicked his wrist, and Robin was thrown back against the wall, again. "Yes, he said that he would have had you too, if it hadn't been for some interference. Now, Terra, it's time for you to come home." 

His eyes began to glow red, as did Terra's, and she began to move forward, away from the others. Blood smiled as she continued towards him, soon he would have all the power he required. She was going to make him invincible, then nowhere in the world would be safe from his wrath. Or, at least, that's how it would have gone had he not had to stop concentrating on Terra, and form a shield to protect himself from the golden starbolt. His head whipped around to see Sindel, hand raised, and fingers outstretched. 

"What are you doing?" 

"This," he moved instantly from where he was to be in front of Terra, protecting her. 

His hair turned from green to gold, and fell loose from the braid, his green tank top molded to his upper body, like a second skin, becoming black, and his pant's changed from black to white. Two forearm guards appeared on his arms as he clenched his fists, eyes glowing green. Two more starbolts appeared in his clenched hands, and he was going to use them. Upon throwing them, they weren't stopped, but deflected upwards, towards the ceiling. The explosions which followed threatened to rip the building apart. Red klaxons blared an alarm, signaling that everyone should evacuate. 

The Titans all gathered around Cyborg, except for Sunfire, who had locked eyes with an extremely hurt Jinx. 

"Raven, get us outta here," Robin said. 

"What about Sunfire?" she asked looking over at him. 

"I'll be fine, go on ahead," he said with a wave, hoping they would take the hint and go. 

"Alright." 

The form of a massive raven engulfed the five teens and carried them through a hole in the roof. This left Sunfire, Jinx, and Mammoth alone in the room, since everyone else had fled. He walked up to them, knowing that deep down they still trusted him, to a point. 

"You could have been one of us," Jinx said as she looked at the ground, ashamed for being taken in so easily. 

"Trust me, the offer was tempting, but there are others who need me right now," he placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her head to jerk upward, eyes locked on his. He leaned forward and gently kissed her forehead. "I would have to suggest you both get out of the HIVE, nothing good could ever come of working for that man." 

"But, there are tracking devices, somewhere in our bodies," Jinx explained, her eyes lit up slightly from his show of affection. 

"You mean these," he held out two microchips, about the size, and shape, of a penny. "Now go, you have to get out before this who place crashes down on you." 

Jinx looked at Mammoth, who nodded slowly, he knew exactly what had to be done. She turned back to Sunfire, tears in her eyes, she was going to miss him, traitor or not. 

"So, Sunfire, eh? The name suits you," she smiled and laughed a little, making him smile. "Maybe we'll see you around sometime?" 

"Maybe, anything's possible," he smiled back before stepping away from her. "Take care of her Mammoth, I'm counting on you." 

"Yeah, yeah, just get goin', we'll be fine," the massive teen said with a smirk as Sunfire began to fade away. When he was completely gone, the two of them looked at each other, and then headed for the exit.

* * *

Raven walked down the stairs at 2:30 AM a few days later, she needed some tea to help her sleep. It had been so hectic lately, what with Sunfire's return, and revelation about Brother Blood. Terra seemed to have been effected the most by that; he was, after all, the one who gave her those powers. But that aside, she still needed that tea, and it seemed to take forever for her to reach the bottom of the stairs. 

When she rounded the corner into the kitchen, she saw Sunfire sitting on the counter, wearing just a pair of mesh shorts. His bare feet were propped up by the sink, and his arms were crossed over his chest. The dark magus mentally slapped herself to keep from staring. The sight was just so...serene, captivating, arousing even; take your pick, whatever it is, she would have given anything to be in his place. 

"Hey, thought you'd be up," he quipped as he looked over at the clock on the microwave. 

"Really, well why are you up?" she raised an eyebrow, how did he know? 

"Pizza," he wrapped his knuckles against the stove next to him. "I was hungry." 

"Apparently," she said as she sat at the table, using her power to pick up the teakettle, and fill it with water. She then placed it on the stove and turned on the burner. "Sunfire, can I ask you a question?" 

"Remember, you only get three per topic," he held up three fingers, then ran the hand through his golden locks, green eyes boring a hole into her skull. 

Raven sighed, she needed answers, but with only three questions at her disposal, she would have to be crafty. 

"Why is it that you know what I'm about to do?" she asked cautiously, hoping for an answer that would make sense to her. 

"Because of your memory in my mind," he pointed to his head, "every new memory, every new thought, every new feeling, is catalogued here, at the same time you experience it. That is the only reason I know everything you know, because I have a copy of your mind inside my own. Everyone else, I can only read the thoughts they have at that time, or see a memory as they remember it. I cannot delve into their minds without direct, physical contact." 

"You've had time to prepare that answer," Raven teased/scolded. 

"Well, you have been milling that question around in your head for some time," he shrugged and looked at the clock again. "Next question." 

"With that link, do you have access to my powers?" 

"No, your emotions will not allow me to tap into those recesses of your mind. Given I have tried, and could if I wanted to, but I would never do so without permission," he slid off the counter, and grasped the handle of the oven door. "And, as you have tried to break the seal on my memories, you will only receive information you need, not what you want." 

She was surprised by that statement, it was the answer to her next question; did this mean he giving her another question, as a freebie? There was something in his voice, too, something that she couldn't quite place, having not encountered that certain emotion much in her time here. It was, how to put it best, alluring; she could see now why Jinx had been so fixated on him. To be able to be around that feeling for too long would have driven Raven's control right out the window. 

"It was a freebie, Raven, now go ahead and ask your question," he said as he pulled the pizza from the oven, not even bothering with an oven mitt. 

"You said you had been to Azarath, how is Azar?" she asked, the questioned he'd previously answered was her last one, she had to think fast, again. 

"I had been there, long ago, too long to recall," he looked up at the ceiling in a dreamy manner, sighing deeply. "I do remember that Azar was doing well, she did seem to be getting on in years, but she had just gotten a new disciple, and had set about ridding them of emotion." 

Raven took in a long breath, there had been no word from Azar about a new pupil, she had been the last. But, it was impossible, there was no way he could be that old and still look that young, even for an alien. Besides, she didn't ever remember seeing him, so it must have been someone else. That thought squarely set in her mind, she continued. 

"So, did Azar teach you anything useful?" she asked, hoping her three were not up. 

"Yes, actually, she taught me quite a bit," he was still looking at the ceiling, as if trying to burn a hole in it. "I said three questions _per topic_, Raven, you now have one more about Azarath." 

"Alright, what did Azar teach you?" 

"Unity," he said simply and, finally taking his eyes off the ceiling, placed the pizza on the table. "Would you like some?" 

"No thanks, tea is enough for me," she waved her hand and the kettle lifted from the stove, and poured into a cup, a teabag swished from the cabinet and dropped into the cup. 

"Come on, it's good," he tried to emphasize his point by tearing into the first piece. 

She looked the pizza up and down, trying to find something wrong with it, trying to find out if Starfire had given him any pointers. Her eyes shot up to his, he was looking at her train of thought again, she knew he was. He was chewing the food slowly, eyes focused intently on the empath across from him. There was no mistaking that look for anything else, and she instantly began to feel uncomfortable. 

"Just one piece?" she asked, eyes still glued to his. 

"As much as you want," he pulled his eyes away from hers, the action somehow leaving her feeling hollow. "Do you know of Unity, Raven?" 

"A little, Azar never went very far into explaining it," she said as she grabbed a piece and summoned a plate over to her. "It was something about the joining of two minds, as one." 

"Exactly, but the process can only be done by two like-minded individuals," he placed the crust in his moth and slurped it down like a piece of spaghetti. "Once done, their entire minds are opened to the other, all thoughts, memories, everything." 

Raven stopped chewing and looked over at him, was he suggesting what she thought he was suggesting? Surely he wouldn't want his entire mind open to her probing, she wasn't sure she wanted to be rooting around in there either. Just the idea of it defied every known law of privacy, every little detail of their lives would be open to the other. 

"Are you saying you wish to perform this ritual?" she asked after she swallowed. 

"Not without your consent, but, yes, I would," he smiled a little, knowing her thoughts were racing, racing towards one conclusion. "You may give me an answer when you feel you are ready. Give it some thought." 

"Y-yeah, I'll do that." 

She was visibly shaken by this, Unity was only performed by the highest of Azar's priests and priestesses. It was ludicrous to think she had reached that level of clarity, but, at the same time, there was only one way to find out. By the time she was done sorting her thoughts, she saw Sunfire at the fridge, looking for something to drink. She stood, walked up behind him, and tapped him on the shoulder. 

He turned to look at her, the cloak gone, forgotten on the chair, her eyes sparkling, hands trembling. Before he could see her thoughts, he was pressed against the refrigerator, Raven up on her tiptoes, lips pressed to his. It was a simple kiss, neither going so far as the pressing of lips, merely getting a feel for each other. 

Objects around them began to levitate in a black aura, but were consumed by gold and placed back down. The light above them burst, but was pulled back together a millisecond later. The kitchen almost turned itself inside out by the black aura radiating from Raven, but it collided with Sunfire, and instantly began to dissipate. 

Raven pulled away, not even realizing that she had her arms around his neck, and his hands were on her hips. The look on his face was calm, cool, collected, but even she could see the joy behind his eyes, the same joy she had allowed herself to feel just now. Her assumptions were correct, his aura slammed head on into hers, and the two conflicting forces cancelled each other out. 

"So," she was pulled from her thoughts by the man in front of her, "where do we go from here?" 

TBC 

There, I did not end it there because this chapter was getting too long, but because I wanted to leave you with a little cliffy. Just to hold you over till I can get the next chapter written up. It will be a little while, but in that time I will be planning it out, while updating some of my other fics. That's all from me for now, don't forget to review.


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans 

Thank you all for reviewing, I think I got more for the last chapter than any before it. 

( ) author's notes 

... - dreamscape/mindscape 

'' - telepathy 

The Titan 

Chapter 6 

Cowritten by Nate and Felicia

* * *

"So, where do we go from here?" 

The sentence went around and around inside Raven's head, no answers coming. Where did they go from here? Where was there to go? She knew that he knew what she was thinking about, and was probably working his own mind to figure out an answer for her. That thought was pushed from her mind instantly; he promised her that he would give her time to think about it, he promised to not peer into her thoughts unless she gave permission. 

"But he sees everything I think, as I think it," she looked up at the sky, having a clear view from her perch atop the tower. "Is he capable of turning it off?" 

A few hours had passed since the incident in the kitchen, making it late afternoon now, around four PM. The tea had not helped her sleep, if anything she was more awake now than she had ever been in her entire life. She had vowed to herself that she wouldn't sleep until she had an answer for him. Meditation was her only means of concentrating hard enough to find said answersm and that;s what she had been trying to do for the past four hours. 

'What I'd give for one of Starfire's distractions right about now,' she sighed inwardly, her thoughts once again turning to him; where he was, what he was doing. 'He and Terra are probably training again, I hope I have an answer when they're done.'

* * *

Sunfire was indeed training with Terra, as Beast Boy sat on the sidelines and watched his methods. He was starting to see similarities between them, far deeper than just the blonde hair, or slightly aloof personalities. The fact that they had both been created artificially, both granted amazing powers, and both coming together to become quite an efficient team. This made him slightly jealous of Sunfire, he was spending so much time with Terra, that he barely had time to see her. But, at the same time, he knew it was for the best, the Tamaranean could easily help Terra more than he ever could. 

"Find your center, the pebble is your center," Sunfire said as a small pebble was lifted from the ground and held before Terra. "From the center all power radiates, that power wishes to flow at maximum capacity, you must put a stopper on that flow. Slow it to a trickle, keep it in check." 

Terra concentrated on the pebble in front of her, keeping it aloft. It was strange, this was taking all her willpower, since her powers wanted to throw the pebble as far as possible. She had to keep those powers in check, lest they take control of her again. Concentrating a bit harder, she began lifting the grains of sand around her, bonding them to the pebble. 

"Good, keep it up, as the center becomes bigger, you will feel the amount of will you need begin to lessen," he continued as he walked around her. "Can you feel it?" 

"Yes," she said, it sounded strained, like it took all her remaining concentration just to speak. 

"Now, begin adding other small rocks, with the sand," he stopped walking when he was directly in front of her. "Don't just break larger rocks, lift all the pebbles you can find." 

The blonde's brow furrowed deeper as her powers were stretched again, but then the strain began to lessen again. Her powers were becoming accustomed to the extra load almost instantaneously. Never before had she thought of an exercise like this, mostly it was just grab a rock and fling it as hard as she could. This was different, this was challenging her mind to accommodate the extra load of controlling multiple objects. Size had no real say in anything, it all depended on how many rocks she had under her control. 

'Raven, what could you be thinking about?' Sunfire thought as he looked up at the silhouette of the girl atop the tower. 

A grunt pulled his attention back to Terra, who was shaking as she added more and more rocks and sand. The "center" was now almost the size of a beach ball, and the surface was beginning to move as water. Rippling and flowing over the silicate beneath it; pebbled occasionally making an appearance. It was beginning to lose consistency, grains of sand falling from it to form a pile on the ground. Terra's face was contorted as she tried not to move, to raise her hands and grasp the control she needed. 

"Let it fall, Terra, you've reached your limit for now," he said and the sand and rocks fell into a large pile, but the original pebble remained floating. "Good, care to try again, or do you want to rest?" 

"Rest." 

"Very well, we can continue tomorrow, how does that sound?" 

"That sounds great," Terra got up from her sitting position, her breathing returning to normal from the harsh breaths she had been taking in. "It's getting easier every time." 

"Yeah, it tends to do that," he grinned a little, looking from her to Raven, and then back again. "So go on, have fun; he's waiting for you." 

With that he started for the door of the tower, knowing that Terra was noticing Beast Boy for the first time that day. She walked over to him and grasped his hand in hers, dragging him from the rock he was sitting on, lifting them off the ground on a boulder and flew off to places unknown. Sunfire's smile faded a little, wondering if he had ever been like that in his previous life. There had been flashes of who he had been, most of them were in battle, but that had been a long, long time ago. 

"I wonder if Starfire would have some answers for me," he said to himself as he entered the tower. "It's worth a shot." 

He stepped into the elevator, crossing his arms as it began its ascent. The dark presence he had fended off in the HIVE was still there, constantly whispering in his mind, but he paid it no mind. If he even for once decided to know what it was saying, it would most likely take control of him. He had already lost one perfectly good shirt to his lost control, he didn't want to risk the tower bursting into flames. 

'All this power, but where did I get it?' he thought, trying to remember as far back as he could. The beginning of his life had been in space, with another, that looked like him. 

The elevator stopped and he stepped into the common room, Robin and Cyborg were playing some racing game, and Starfire was watching. He knew she took notice of his entrance, even if her head did not move, he always knew she followed him with her eyes. This time was a little different, as he walked right up to her and tapped her shoulder. Turning she saw his green eyes looking intently down at her. 

"May I speak with you alone?" he asked her quietly, then added, even more quietly, "Princess?" 

Starfire nodded slightly and followed him out of the room, walking down several flights of stairs to the basement. She looked nervous, as if she were ready to scream at any moment, alert the others to her predicament. But he simply stood there, his back to her, arms dropped limply to his sides. 

"If I were going to kill you, I would have done so," he turned to her, eyes flaring something that looked as if her were hurt. "I need answers, will you give me them?" 

"What kind of answers?" 

"Answers about who I was, what I am, why I'm here," he took a step towards her, grasping her shoulders. "I believe you have the information I seek." 

Starfire looked at his eyes, the determination set in his face, and the light grip he had on her. Her head dropped to stare at the ground, she couldn't tell him what she knew, what if she was wrong? The knowledge she had was somewhat biased, having been given by the ones who said they made him. They had never shown her, nor told her, of the process they used, only assuring the naive princess they had done it. 

"I am sorry, but I do not have your answers," she kept her eyes on the ground, not wanting to the confusion she knew was evident on his face. "I am afraid the knowledge I have is incorrect." 

"I understand, thank you for your time," he let go of her shoulders, and started back up the stairs, but stopped. "Why are you afraid of me?" 

She turned and looked at him, the curious expression on his face, the question was strange to her. Yes, she was afraid, but why, why was she afraid of him. He had not done anything to harm her, or any of her friends, perhaps there was no need to fear him. Yet, she still was, could it have been the amount of power he had? It had to be that, since there was no other plausible reason. 

"Y-you're so powerful," she said with a hint of hesitation, not knowing exactly how to word it. 

"That is no reason to fear me," he said as he sat down on the bottom stair. "Do you fear Raven, she has so much power as well." 

"I do not fear her, she has control of her powers." 

"She does not have total control, where as I do," he stated simply, looking at the confusion on her face. "What can you tell me about one called Moonfire?" 

"I do not know anyone by that name," she said sitting down on a crate behind her. "But there were rumors that he had destroyed a Tamaranean colony at the outskirts of our territories." 

"He did, and I had helped him," he dropped his gaze from the princess to the floor. "It was strange though, I was there, but I was not in control of my body. I could see everything that had happened, bound within my own mind." 

"So you did not destroy all those planets of your own volition?" 

"No, I was being manipulated, a voice in my head constantly telling me to kill and destroy, until everything was gone," he lifted his eyes back to her, red forming at the corners. "I am sorry for all I have done, and for making you afraid, it was not my intention to do so." 

"But the colony was destroyed almost thirteen cycles ago, how could it have been you? They said you where only created twenty cycles ago." 

"I was not created on Tamaran, I am unsure where I was created, but it was in the vicinity of a black hole. There are many things I do not understand, but I know now where to get my answers," he stood and started back up the stairs, wiping the red tears from the corners of his eyes.

* * *

A few wisps of golden hair rose up through Raven's shadow, followed by Sunfire's head, then the rest of him. After making sure she didn't know he was there, he wrapped his arms around the floating sorceress, placing his chin on her shoulder. 

"Hey," he said, smiling. 

"Hey," she replied, allowing a small smile to grace her lips. 

"You've been doing quite a bit of thinking," his chin moved off her shoulder, his face now right next to hers. "What about?" 

"Don't you know?" 

"Nope, I figured I should give you some privacy." 

'So he can block it out," she thought, glad that he hadn't read her thoughts. "Thanks, I thought you would have been listening in." 

"You should know me better than that by now," he kissed her cheek before letting her go, he initial blush from being grabbed now even redder. 

Raven was suddenly very aware of what was happening around her. The blinking light, the kind to alert planes of the tower, exploded, and was pulled back together. The roof access door began to shake, but stopped a moment later. 

"I'm never gonna get used to that," she sighed with a shy smile. 

"Don't worry, you may not have to," he winked at her, allowing his feet to leave the ground as he floated beside her. 

He stayed like that for a little while, his eyes closed in thought. Despite what Raven believed, he could not turn off the thoughts in his head, he could only choose to ignore them. But they were still there, still swimming around inside his mind. Most of them were discarded, mainly the ones of her past; he did not wish to know of that before Unity. 

But, with the deafening of his thoughts in his head, one word ripped him from it. 

"Sunfire?" 

His head whipped around, looking deep into the violet eyes that met his. The expression in them held his gaze in check; he was unable to move, at all. 

"Yes?" 

"What do you require for Unity?" 

"Besides you, nothing." 

"I had assumed..." 

"...That it would require arcane symbols and seals; sorry, but it's much simpler than that." 

He chuckled lightly, Azar really had not told her anything of Unity. Given that the old woman did have a bit of a flare for candles and symbols, none were actually needed. The feeling of a glare on him stopped his chuckled and he burst out laughing, lowering to the ground. He stopped, not meaning to insult Raven with such a gesture, but feeling that look...he couldn't help it. 

Raven followed suit, lowering herself to the roof beside him. Her glare had softened as she almost laughed with him; instead she made a sound like something between a laugh and a 'hmph.' There was something wrong with his laugh though, she had heard him laugh before, and this wasn't quite right. Either it was a feeling, or his memories leaking into her head again, but she knew it was Starfire. 

"When can we do this?" she looked openly curious, her emotions showing more and more around him. 

"Anytime you want, now, later, whenever," he shrugged, as if to signify they had all the time in the world. 

"What happens if we...break Unity?" 

"Unless our minds are so intertwined that I believe I'm you and you believe you are me, nothing. Azar was very specific in the method she taught me, nothing will go wrong," he smiled reassuringly, knowing exactly what he was doing. "When would you like?" 

"Can we do it now?" 

"Of course," he turned his body towards hers, raising himself onto his knees. "Get in the same position as me." 

She did, wincing slightly as her bare knees scraped the roof. Once that was done, Sunfire reached out, placing his hands on either side of her face, his index, middle, and ring fingers on her temples, while his thumb rested below her eye, his pinky pointing towards the back of her head. Without needing to be told, she placed her hands on his head in the same manner. With that done, he began to lean forward, and she followed suit, until their foreheads were pressed together. 

The strangest feeling Raven had ever felt entered her system, it was as if Sunfire was passing through her, and she was passing through him. Everything in his mind began to open, like a veil being lifted from her sight. She knew the same thing was happening to him, could feel his mind now consciously inside her own. Her eyes had been closed the entire time, and now opened. 

... 

What she saw startled her, having gotten used to the darkness of her own mind, she was unprepared for this. She stood on a path, running through a green field, a golden sun shining up above. So many Sunfire's walked about, chatting with each other, once in a while one would point to her, then continue chatting. She looked at all of them, green, red, gray, yellow, pink (yes, pink), orange, purple, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. 

"Not all minds look like yours," she turned around and saw the golden Sunfire she knew. "But the emotions are the same." 

"I've never ventured so far into someone's mind before to actually see them, but I had always known they were there," she said as she made a full turn, taking in everything. 

Two children ran between them, laughing and playing a game that looked similar to tag. More followed, until the group was five-strong, and was soon gone, over a hill. Raven turned questioning eyes to him, but she already knew what they were. The life essences of some of the people he had killed while under Moonfire's control. It was all he could do to save a small piece of the species he'd annihilated. 

"So, where do we go from here?" she asked with a smirk. 

"Come with me," he grabbed her hand and began walking down the path, her next to him. "I wish to show you something." 

He led her along the path, and, after a few minutes of walking, they reached the end. The path, and everything else, just ended at a massive white expanse. It stretched on forever, from the impossibly thick forest on the left, to infinity on the right. There was no end to it, just blank whiteness, with nothing marring it but a small, black dot that seemed to be billions of miles away. She squinted her eyes to try and get a better look at it, but it was too far. 

"What is this?" she looked left and right, wondering exactly what was supposed to be here. 

"This is where my mind ends, and his is supposed to begin," he kept his gaze trained ahead, no looking down at the confused magus beside him. "But it's not here." 

"Who do you mean, Moonfire?" she looked up at him, his furrowed brow, the muscles in his arm and shoulder seemed to go taught at the mention of that name. 

"Yes, him, why the path does not continue into his realm is what has me worried," he turned his eyes to look at the concern held within hers. "One thing that I remember is this path continuing." 

"Where are the memories of your previous life?" she asked, her position not moving. "I can't seem to find them." 

He turned from her and pointed to the woods, the tangle of branches and vines were so thick that it was impossible to see anything beyond the first line of trees. There appeared to be a few scattered holes in them, holes that allowed memories to be viewed. She released his hand and began walking towards the forest, but, as soon as she left the path, two figured stepped in front of her, the red Sunfire and the green Sunfire, both with arms crossed over their chests. 

"It's alright, let her pass," Sunfire said from back on the path, and they stepped aside, the orange Sunfire keeping a close eye on her. "Caution, it's okay." 

Orange Sunfire looked over at him and then turned to walk away. Sunfire shook his head; sometimes his emotions were too suspicious of others entering his mind. At the very beginning they had attempted to destroy both Raven and Terra's memories as soon as they entered his mind. He turned his gaze upward, seeing the dark star, Raven, and a yellow star, Terra. Circling around both of them, like an electron cloud, were the docile emotions of both girls. 

Raven let a smile cross her face as she continued to the woods, making her way for the largest hole. She remembered the time when Beast Boy and Cyborg entered her mind, and met with her emotions one at a time. It was a good thing they met Happy first, instead of one her more dangerous emotions. But there was something about this place that seemed wrong, Rage and Brave were two of the strongest emotions, yet he had complete control over both of them. It was also strange that the emotions were not vanishing into himself while he was here. Was the path some sort of safe zone that kept the emotions away? There weren't any on the path, and she hadn't seen any enter it either. 

"Raven, I believe you already know the answers to your own questions," she heard him yell from the path. "Now please, now more questions." 

"I forgot for a second that our minds are joined," she yelled back as she reached the forest. 

Placing her hands on either side of the hole, she looked inside. What she saw was seen through the eyes of whoever's memory this was. She saw a red, mangled hand raise and launch a silver/blue starbolt at a ship. It then turned and launched another starbolt, both ships being completely obliterated in a matter of seconds. The vision then turned around, she could tell this by the movement of the stars in the background, and she could see several others. 

The Tamaraneans she was seeing were different from any she'd seen before, given that her knowledge was limited to Starfire and Blackfire. They were all dressed exactly the same as Sunfire, tank top and baggy pants, only their tank tops were differently colored. One was green, another red, and one more was orange, and they all had wings, the color corresponding with their tanks. Their hair was styled different for each one, two had long hair while the last had it cropped short, around his shoulders. The others were female, their hair long, lustrous, very well kept, and sparkled in the sunlight of a distant star. One had straight hair, right down to her waist, while the other had it almost to her ankles, the style like that of Yue (from CCS). Once the turn was fully complete, the image went blank. 

As the memory ended, she pulled away from the hole, turning back to look at Sunfire. He looked unconcerned with what she had found, and was distracted by the children running around him. The expression on his face was a happy, carefree one as he grabbed the ball they threw and tossed it behind him. They all ran after it, leaving him alone to look at Raven, smiling, to which she smiled as well. He stepped off the path, the emotions around him disappearing, and made his way over to her and the hole. Taking one look at it, he returned his gaze to her, knowing exactly what she was thinking. 

"Do you know who they are?" she asked, referring to the other Tamaraneans. 

"No, I was hoping you might," he shrugged, the disappointment evident in his thoughts. "The look on their faces was a joyous one, like they had just won, but who they are is a mystery to me." 

They both looked at the ground, Sunfire kicking at the grass a little, but it didn't give. Raven tilted her head up and place a hand on his shoulder, wanting to assure him in some way she would help him in any way possible. His hand was placed atop hers, giving it a light squeeze before looking up at her. 

"Would you like to check the other holes?" he inquired quickly, as if wanting to break the contact with her. 

"Maybe later, right now I think we should be getting back to our duties," she released his shoulder, understanding his need for the loss in contact. "Tonight, come to my room, and I will show you my mind." 

"Alright," he said as a blinding light radiated from behind him. 

... 

Their foreheads lost contact with each other, and they both leaned back, breathing heavier than normal. So far Raven had gained only a little bit of knowledge into the enigma that was Sunfire. While, on the other hand, Sunfire had learned much, much more about Raven, and her father and mother. While he was showing her around his mind, he had taken a self-guided tour through hers. The emotions within it were all too happy to allow him access, though Brave had only let him in after he beat her. 

"It's gotten late," he looked up at the stars sparkling above them. "Time flies outside the mind, doesn't it?" 

"Yeah," she stood from her kneeling position, wincing again as her stiff legs were forced straight. 

He stood as well, moving towards the door, but stopped briefly as an alarm went off. Turning towards Raven, they nodded as one and slid down through the roof, and out through the ceiling in the common room. Everyone else was there, standing around the main viewer, which was showing seismic activity. Terra was standing right there, so there was no chance of it being her, so only one thought came to everyone's mind. 

"Slade," Robin hissed as he turned off the screen and turned to everyone else. "We've got to stop him before he can destroy the city. Titans...GO!" 

'/Will he ever get tired of saying that?/' Sunfire asked Raven as they headed for the door. 

'/Probably not./' she smirked.

* * *

The giant mechanical worm seemed impervious to all their attacks, even when Robin tossed several explosives straight into its mouth. Sunfire was getting frustrated, why weren't his starbolts working. Every time one struck, it was absorbed by a red glow, and vanished. Figuring this wasn't working, he unsheathed his sword (thought I'd forgotten about that, didn'cha), charging the metal behemoth. 

"Sunfire, WAIT!" Robin yelled as the worm began burrowing into the ground again. 

He stopped mid-slash, and looked at Robin with very disgruntled eyes. Why did he want to let it go, surely it would have made more sense to destroy it. Nothing could have been gained from this course of action, but, as he had sworn to Starfire that he would follow Robin's orders, he sheathed his sword, and dropped to the ground. When his feet touched, a few cracks formed in the road. 

"We're going to let it show use where Slade is," Robin grinned at his own cleverness. 

"A wise plan, but while we do that, he's going to send more to attack the city," the powerful Tamaranean cautioned. 

"Good point," he placed a hand on his chin. "Cyborg, you, Starfire and Beast Boy stay up here, make sure none of those things get through." 

"You got it," he nodded and then looked at Starfire and Beast Boy. "Come on, let's get going." 

"No way, I'm going with Terra," Beast Boy protested. 

"While we stand here and bicker, Slade's plan is most likely moving further towards fruition," Sunfire snarled at the changeling. "Terra will be fine without you, now just follow orders and get going!" 

He turned on his heel and began moving down into the hole, not even caring if Beast Boy responded. Tonight was not going to be good, he had a feeling deep down in his bones that something bad was going to happen. And the young boy was not making it any easier on his nerves, constantly grating them until he snapped. He had trained Terra himself, he knew what she was capable of, far better than Beast Boy did. Deciding that it had gotten too dark for those behind him, he lit up a starbolt. 

"You didn't have to fly off the handle like that," Terra said, even though he couldn't see her, he knew she was pouting. 

"He is too protective of someone with far greater power than his own, it is not logical to do so," he quipped as he kept walking. 

Moving up next to him, she whispered, "Raven seems protective of you in some ways, any idea why?" 

He remained silent after that, she had caught him with his own words. If there was anything Sunfire hated, it was having what he said turned around on him. To be honest, it wasn't that Beast Boy was too protective, it was that he would most likely be running at the mouth right now, or cracking some stupid joke; each one driving Sunfire closer and closer to driving his fist through the green teen's skull. 

"There's a chamber about three-hundred meters ahead," Robin said as he watched his communicator's screen. "It's pretty big." 

"Thanks for the info, chief," Sunfire mumbled as he expanded his starbolt's light. 

There was indeed a chamber ahead, and the literal "light at the end of the tunnel" was proof of that. Given that the alien did not know of such a saying, the fact did not fail to dawn on the other three. The path was getting somewhat treacherous, as Raven's foot connected with a rock, almost causing her to hit the ground, had she not caught herself. When she stood, Sunfire was by her side, having been ready to catch her himself. 

"I'm fine, let's keep going," she said and started walking; none of them noticing the rock she'd tripped over sinking into the ground. 

Red klaxons, lined across the upper part of the cave, began flashing as the alarms blared. The group halted, Sunfire dropping his starbolt, seeing as how there was now enough light. The floor beneath Raven, Robin and Terra opened, dropping them down into the darkness below. 

"No," Sunfire dove for the hole, but it sealed before he could get there, his hands slamming into another red barrier. "_Drakka_!" 

He stood as the walls began to open, Slade's robots, large and small, began filing out. Turning fully around, Sunfire took in the situation, there were so many now, their numbers seeming to multiply every few seconds. His left hand was raised, the forearm guard exploding outward, revealing a red, mangled arm. The small ball formed at the tips of his fingers, lighting dancing all around the orange core. He turned towards the light at the end of the tunnel. 

"Solar Flare!" he yelled as the ball flashed out, incinerating all of the robots between himself and the exit. "There's no other way to go but forward." 

Upon reaching the end of the tunnel, he found himself in a very well lit room, with a table in the middle. Around the table were chairs, elaborately carved from fine woods, with leather cushions adorning their seats. Atop the table was a feast fit for a king, and, in Sunfire's eyes, was not fit for the one he saw sitting there. Brother Blood stood from his seat, wiping his mouth with a napkin. 

"I was wondering when you would get here," he said, stepping around it to stand in front of him. 

TBC 

There we go, another chapter down, though, it was getting too long to include the battle I had planned. Oh well, thanks for the reviews, especially Paineful. I'm glad you're all liking the story, and I'll try to update as soon as possible.


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans 

Thank you all for reviewing, hope you like this chapter. 

( ) author's notes 

- dreamscape 

'' - telepathy 

- mindscape 

The Titan 

Chapter 7 

Written by Nate Sindel

* * *

Blood stood from the chair slowly, Sunfire watching his every move, eyes trained on the frail, old man. Something was amiss here, even he knew that appearances were deceiving, but there was something not right with the man's walk. Back at the HIVE, he had seen Brother Blood move, and it had not been at the shambling gate he now had. 

"What's the matter, having trouble maintaining the barriers?" the Tamaranean asked as he crossed his arms. 'He must be expelling an immense amount of energy, even now.' 

"I suppose that I don't need to," Blood said, standing a little straighter, using the table for support, "now that you're here. But, even so, I believe I'll introduce you to the new alpha team." 

Sunfire watched as he started towards the other end of the chamber, quite a ways for the weakened Blood, but, eventually, he made it. His hand rested on a stone, which then sunk into the wall, which then opened to reveal three teenagers. Two he knew, one he had only seen. 

"You know Bumblebee, don't you?" the old man smirk as he gestured to the young black girl. "As well as Jinx and Mammoth." 

His smirk widened at the look on Sunfire's face, the pure contempt and confusion, the look of one lost in the situation. The only problem was that it was the dire concentration in the boy's mind which kept Blood from seeing his thoughts. He had caught Jinx and Mammoth shortly after their attempted escape. 

"Yes, they still have use, I just hope my power didn't damage their minds too much." 

Sunfire grumbled something too low to hear, his eyes closing, brow furrowing in rage. His fists clenched, the sound of flesh on flesh, and tends stretching filled the chamber. The forearm guard for his arm materialized from nothing. The muscles in his arms and chest tightened, veins began popping up all over his body. 

"What was that?" Blood held hand to his ear. 

"You'd better pray," golden eyes opened, and hand unclenched, "to whatever god you serve, that it didn't." 

"Oooh, testy," he turned around and walked behind Jinx. "Well, I'm afraid I must be going, have fun." 

The stone slid shut as he left, which left the four of them alone, and Sunfire was trying to piece together the final thought that Blood had, it was subliminal to what he had said, but he had picked it up. 'I guess the question is, why do you care?' was what he said, and Sunfire couldn't answer it. 

"Jinx, Mammoth, go," the sharp, feminine voice cut through the air like the hexes which were streaking towards him. 

It made no difference, a flick of his wrist and the hexes were sent away, crashing into the ceiling somewhere. There was something else, something very faint, but it seemed to be coming nearer. But it wasn't Raven, he couldn't pick her up at all, nor could he find Terra or Robin. 

"Doesn't matter," he said, mostly to himself. 

A raised hand deflected Mammoth's punch, then grabbed his wrist and flipped him into the table. The same hand was as much a blur as his body was as he grabbed Bumblebee's stingers and bent them into uselessness. The back of his hand then connected with the underside of her chin, thrusting her up and back against the wall/door. He then whirled around on Jinx, her red eyes glaring at him, and he stopped. 

'If she doesn't matter, why _do_ I care?' he thought as her hexes passed through him. 'Because...she _does_ matter.' 

His hand was one her head in an instant, forcing her back against the wall. In a similar motion, he moved from there to the table, where Mammoth was still falling, and grabbed his head as well. The process was swift, precise, and complete; he removed his hands and stood up, finally noticing just how slow everything had gotten. 

Breathing in, then out, time began to catch up to him, and everything began moving at normal speed. Jinx and Mammoth hit the floor, as well as Bumblebee, chunks of the wall falling around her. She didn't stay on the floor long as a hand wrapped around her neck and forced her against the wall. 

"Where are the Titans?" he asked through gritted teeth. 

"How should I know?" she was able to grunt. 

"Are you aware of what I can do to your mind?" he released her neck, exuding the most minute amount of his power to hold her to the floor. "I could easily reach in and tear it apart, just for fun, so I'm giving you this chance to give me a straight answer." 

Bumblebee looked at him, then at the wall to the right; Sunfire followed her gaze, and noticed the lines of a door, cleverly hidden in the rocks. Allowing her up, he walked over to the wall, and reached for the panel to open the door. 

"Ooooh, what happened?" 

He turned and saw Jinx standing from where he had laid her on the floor, and Mammoth was beginning to stir as well. Leaving the wall, he moved over to her, helping her to her feet; remaining silent as she held her head. When she removed it, she looked around, taking in her surroundings. 

"Welcome back," he said, not really noticing, nor caring, that Bumblebee had slipped out of the room. 

"Sunfire?" she looked up at him, the small, relieved, smile on his face. "Where am I? What happened?" 

"It's hard to explain," he removed the hand from her back and started for the wall again, hearing Mammoth groan his awakening. "Suffice it to say that you weren't yourself for a short time." 

Pushing the panel, the wall opened, revealing a staircase behind it. He looked down passed the darkness, into the stone, and could see a large chamber. Brother Blood was obviously weakening, seeing as how his other senses were working again. It was either that or he had simply stopped, and the effect it had on him was wearing off. 

'What could he be doing down there?' he wondered to himself, trying, and failing, to see further. '/Raven, if you can hear me, say something./'

* * *

Raven, at the moment, was back to back with Robin, striking down Slade's robots left and right. They just kept coming, as if there was no end, large and small, black and white, some firing lasers, others - the larger ones - attempted to beat them with the massive pincers they had for hands. 

"Any ideas?" she asked, setting up barrier after barrier, only to have them knocked down. 

"We need to try and get to the hole Terra fell through," he replied, swinging his bo staff to take out three more bots. 

Upon reaching this level, the ground beneath them had been fine, but Terra fell through again. It was strange, though, it did make sense, if all this was to get her alone. It was obvious that that was what this was all about, attempting to get Terra as his apprentice. 

"Well, then what are we doing standing here?" she whipped her hand towards the hole, and all of the droids between them and it were blasted back. 

Robin leapt up and into the hole, while Raven flew down. The tunnel they were in was not straight down, as the first one was, this was slanted, carrying them further from their starting point. As she fell/slid, Raven heard a slight buzzing in her head, like very quiet static. 

'What is he trying to say?' Raven thought, figuring it to be Sunfire. 

Unfortunately, she didn't have time to think much on it, because they had entered a massive chamber, large enough to probably fit a few stadiums inside. There was a platform at the center, on which stood Slade, and Terra was nowhere to be seen. Taking a look around, she saw that there was a steel door behind them, and a few pods off to the side, all of which were occupied. 

"Robin, look!" she pointed to the pods, each of which held a Titan; Beast Boy, Cyborg and Starfire were all inside, eyes closed and apparently asleep. 

"Ah, so you've finally arrived," Slade quipped from his position. 

"_Slade_!" Robin hissed, running forward to attack, skidding to a halt when his nemesis held up a remote. 

"Now, now, Robin," he waved it a little, "there's no need to rush." 

"Where's Terra?" 

"She's right here," he stepped off the platform and pressed a button, the top of it sliding open. A harness-type structure was raised from beneath it, with Terra in it. 

Her arms were pulled behind her, held together by a singe manacle, her legs were spread slightly, shackled to the base of the harness, and her head was held straight up, an almost claw-like fixture holding it from behind. Her eyes were closed, making it obvious she was unconscious. The whole scene looked like something out of a bondage porn movie, but there was nothing erotic about this. 

"With this chair, I can tap directly into her power, without her even having to think," Slade chuckled. 

With that he pressed another button on the remote, and Terra threw herself against her bonds, writhing in pain as the floor around the platform began to split and crack. With a great upheaval, the ground beneath Robin and Raven was forced up towards the ceiling, they were able to jump away, but then had to contend with boulders and rocks of varying sizes being thrown at them. 

"We've got to get the claw off her head!" Robin yelled as he deflected a rock with his staff, and threw several exploding disks at a large boulder. 

"Right," the empathic goth replied, grabbing one of the boulders with her power and flinging at several more.

* * *

Sunfire had found what he was looking for, Brother Blood, who was looking much better now. He attributed it to the fact that he could see, and hear, and "feel" exceptionally well, that Blood had stopped his psychic jamming. His fists clenched, and his eyes began to glow a golden color. 

With him were Jinx and Mammoth, who were looking to be out of breath from keeping up with his rate of travel. Both were slightly confused at why he would follow Blood instead of going down the stairs to his friends. Jinx didn't really mind much, the more she was with him was enough; aside from the whole realization that he was not Nate Sindel, she still had a crush on him. 

"So, you broke my control over them, I commend you on your skill," Blood drew back a little, a red aura present around his body. "But that isn't going to save you." 

"Who said I needed saving?" Sunfire asked rhetorically. "I am Tal Sunfire, and I can not, will not allow you to get away." 

As he spoke, two massive wings erupted from the scars on his back, folding around his shoulders slightly. Thrusting his hand out before him, he launched a golden starbolt, then he was simply gone. Appearing behind Blood, who nimbly sidestepped the bolt coming at him, and avoided the one launched from behind as well. The two starbolts connected and cancelled out. 

'He's faster than I thought,' he thought as he dodged a strike from Blood, who had gotten beside him. 

Their hands were soon a blur of motion as they continued the fight, both upping the ante every few seconds. Then, just as it seemed he was getting the upper hand, Blood jumped back, grabbed his robe, and threw it off, revealing his clothes beneath (you all know what he looks like, right? Good). 

"Since we seem to be revealing at the moment," he sneered as red lightning began dancing from the spheres in his hands. 

He began using the lightning as a whip, slashing at Sunfire again and again, always being deflected by the single forearm guard that the alien still had. Soon it was too much, and the guard cracked and broke; no matter, the Phoenix Blade was drawn. One of the whips struck that sword, and flames rushed back up its length, setting Blood aflame. 

The old man fell to the ground, shaking off the burns, and looked up...at the foot that came crashing into his face. It lifted him off the ground, and threw him through the air, into the wall, where a hand with a mangled forearm connected with his abdomen. 

'/SUNFIRE!/' Terra's voice screamed in his head. 

He dropped Blood to the ground and turned to the door, moving as swiftly as possible to get to her; grabbing Jinx and Mammoth on his way.

* * *

Things were not fairing well for Robin and Raven, the closer they got to Terra, the harder it was. Boulders the size of cars were broken into smaller pieces, that would whirl around either one of them, then slam together like a crusher. Raven could repel them, but Robin had to use a much more physical method. 

"Terra, you have to resist!" Robin yelled through the din of crashing stones, and breaking ground. "It's your power, not his, you have to break free!" 

"I'm trying!" she screamed, still engulfed in the pain of the chair. 

As she writhed on the chair, Slade stood behind her, in the calm center of the whirlwind. He was oblivious to what was happening just then, beneath him. This location was chosen because it was right at the junction of the three faults that ran through Jump City, thus to maximize Terra's power. But it was the faults that were working against him now. 

From the cracks in the floor, magma began to boil up, sprouting from the release in pressure. Raven saw this and teleported back to the relative safety of the doors, grabbing the pods off to the side and bringing them with her. 

"Robin, her power's triggered a volcano, get out of there!" she yelled. 

"Not YET!" he leapt through the final wall of stones, feeling one of them strike his arm, snapping it, and delivered a devastating kick to Slade's face, forcing him back into the wall of swirling rocks. 

"Terra, stop!" Slade turned off the remote, but the stones didn't stop. "What are you doing?" 

"This!" she commanded a rock to grab Robin and brought him to the safety of the doors. "You can't control me anymore!" 

The claw on her head began to crack, until it snapped into several pieces, which fell to the floor. With that gone, Slade's eye widened, this wasn't supposed to be happening. His plan had been perfect, with Brother Blood's help he had constructed the chair to completely immobilize Terra's body and mind, allowing for total control of her power. 

'/SUNFIRE!/' she screamed with her mind, hoping he would get there in time. 

The rocks fell to the ground, or the lava, in some parts, as her attention shifted from them, to stopping the volcano. Slade, taking the opening given him, leapt from the platform, and made his way over the lava to the edge, as far from Terra as possible. As Terra began her final scream, Raven erected a shield to protect them, but could feel a familiar presence approaching. 

As the final flash of Terra's power burst from her, the steel doors behind the Titans were blown from their hinges. Sunfire entered, depositing his passengers as he did so, and looked on as his student sacrificed herself. 

When the light was gone, nothing was left except for a Terra turned to stone, still in the chair, still shackled, her hair flying wildly around her head, eyes open, looking directly at Sunfire. Time seemed to stop he stepped forward, through Raven's shield, floating over the petrified magma field, and landed in front of her. Lifting his hands to her face, he positioned them for Unity, placing his forehead against hers. 

He could see nothing. 

Terra was completely gone, her life essence drained from her body, possibly returned to the Earth it was born from. 

But that didn't stop Sunfire from looking beyond her, at Slade, who was attempting to escape. Moving instantaneously, he was in front of him now, knocking him away from the doors, over the ledge onto the frozen lava. 

"You did this," he growled, kicking Slade in the ribs, sending him flying against a boulder. "You attempted to use a power you didn't understand," another kick, "pushed her to levels she wasn't ready for," a jab to the gut, "and then you pushed her further," a backhand to the face, "using her emotional instability as a motivator," he grabbed Slade's head, driving him into the ground, "and then you lost control." 

He threw Slade against the wall, causing a very deep imprint, then grabbed him by the front of his suit. 

"What you have done is unforgivable," he raised his hand to the man's face, palm up, fingers extended. 

"And what will you do about it?" Slade asked as a small trickle of blood escaped from under his mask, he was asking for death. 

"I will give you...your life," he dropped the unmoving villain to the ground, who began to writhe on the floor, clutching at his mask, and howling in pain. 

Sunfire began to walk away, as the Titans - and former HIVE members - arrived. Raven was the first to speak. 

"What did you do?" 

"I have kept my promise not to kill him, but from now on his body will feel as if consumed by fire, the pain a constant reminder of those he has hurt," he turned away from them and began walking again; Jinx and Mammoth said their good byes to the Titans and went after him. 

Raven looked about to say something else, but held back at the cold feeling she got from him. Slade's little scheme had affected him more than any of them; Terra was his student, possibly the closest thing he had to a little sister, or, possibly, a daughter. But one thing was for sure, Beast Boy wasn't going to be much happier when he was released from his stasis chamber. 

TBC 

There, finally, a little Christmas present for all of you who had waited so long. I'll be taking another little break to work on my other neglected stories. With new music comes new ideas, and I just got the Shinedown CD, thusly I was able to break through my writer's block. So, hey, just remember to send those reviews, we're hoping for a few more than last time.


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans

Thank you all for reviewing, hope you like this chapter.

( ) author's notes

- dreamscape

'' - telepathy

- mindscape

The Titan

Chapter 8

Written by Nate Sindel

* * *

"What you have done is unforgivable," he raised his hand to the man's face, palm up, fingers extended. 

"And what will you do about it?" Slade asked as a small trickle of blood escaped from under his mask, he was asking for death.

"I will give you, your life," he dropped the unmoving villain to the ground, who began to writhe on the floor, clutching at his mask, and howling in pain.

Sunfire began to walk away, as the Titans - and former HIVE members - arrived. Raven was the first to speak.

"What did you do?"

"I have kept my promise not to kill him, but from now on his body will feel as if consumed by fire, the pain a constant reminder of those he has hurt," he turned away from them and began walking again; Jinx and Mammoth said their good byes to the Titans and went after him.

Raven looked about to say something else, but held back at the cold feeling she got from him. Slade's little scheme had affected him more than any of them; Terra was his student, possibly the closest thing he had to a little sister, or, possibly, a daughter. But one thing was for sure, Beast Boy wasn't going to be much happier when he was released from his stasis chamber.

* * *

Days had passed since that fateful day, the day when Terra sacrificed herself for the city, the day that Jinx and Mammoth were freed from Brother Blood for good, the day that Slade was brought to justice. Now Sunfire and the two former HIVE students had disappeared, and no trace of them had been found. Even Raven, reaching out to the fullest extent of her mind, couldn't find them. It had occurred to her that he was completely invisible to her senses - unless he decided otherwise - but that didn't stop her from trying. 

"Where are you?" she sighed, looking out across the city from her position atop Titans' Tower. "Why did you leave?"

"He left because of what he did."

Raven turned slowly, seeing Robin coming through the door, and closing it behind him. At this moment in time all she wanted was to be alone, but it wasn't really like Robin to comply if there was something on his mind, and there was plenty on his mind right now.

"He brought Slade to justice," she turned back around, away from her leader. "Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Not like that," he said, stepping up next to her. "Nothing gave him the right to do that...even if Slade did deserve it."

"Robin, there are some things in this world that are beyond your control," she turned to head for the door, "and he's one of them. No one on this planet, or any other planet for that matter, has the authority, or the power to back it up, to tell him what to do and what not to do."

"He said..."

"He told Starfire he would not kill Slade, that left a very large margin for what he could have done. Besides, you would have done the same in his position," she had stopped walking now, and stood halfway between him and the door. "Slade forced Terra's powers beyond the breaking point in an attempt to destroy us and the city; he got exactly what he deserved."

Robin mulled that over in his head for a few seconds before turning, ready to counter Raven's statement, but she was gone. He moved to the edge of the tower, looking out at the peaceful city, it was going to be a quiet night. Maybe he was letting some sense of honor keep him from being the best he could be, maybe it was that honor that was holding him back. But, if it weren't for that honor, if he did just take the life of every wrongdoer he came across, he would be no better than the people that had killed his parents.

"If it hadn't been for Starfire, then who knows what Sunfire could have, would have done to Slade," he thought aloud, "I guess I should thank her."

* * *

The next was peaceful, so peaceful that Cyborg suggested they all go for a ride in his new and improved T-car, test out the brand new stereo system and the 10,000 disc CD changer. All were eager, except Raven, who was somewhat reluctant, that was before Cyborg agreed to play some of her meditation music. 

They drove through the streets, people waving at their heroes taking time out to be normal teens, at least for a little while. Cyborg drove, naturally, while Robin sat in the front passenger seat, Raven behind him, Starfire in the middle, and Beast Boy, in the form of a dog with his head out the window, was behind Cyborg.

The drive was going fine, they had played through a few of Raven's CDs, which Cyborg had to admit made for a very smooth ride. The goth girl in question was looking out the window with a soft smile on her lips, listening to one of her favorite CDs. Her eyes snapped wide open as she saw a familiar head of spiky golden hair.

"STOP THE CAR!" she screamed, and Cyborg slammed on the breaks.

Before questions could be asked, she was out of the car, and running down the street, weaving between people, trying to find him. Floating slightly, she saw her target turn a corner, moving quite swiftly for someone going against the current of people. Getting up above the crowd, she flew after him, going around the same corner to find no sign of him, but before her was the Jump City Park.

Landing at the entrance of the park, she entered, walking along the concrete path; past people playing games, or practicing tai chi, or having picnics. She stopped abruptly, allowing a group of children playing tag to run by. Once they were gone, she continued forward, looking left and right for any sign of him, but there was none.

As she made her way over a hill, she started to see it, that golden aura, still as bright and comforting as ever. Hurrying, she got to the top and saw him, crouched down, his hands cupped in front of him, and a line of children roughly twenty feet away. About fifty feet behind him was Mammoth, and Jinx was sitting on a bench off to the side. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on here, but she did need to see it to believe it.

"Ready?" he questioned the first child, who nodded. "GO!"

The boy ran forward, placed his foot in the hands set before him, and then Sunfire heaved, launching the boy into the air. Higher and higher he went, laughing all the way, then came the descent, right into Mammoth's waiting hands. He was still laughing as the behemoth of a teen set him down. The Tamaranean stood up and looked over as the boy ran up to him.

"Fun, eh?"

"Yeah, that was great!" the kid whooped.

"Told you," Sunfire laughed a little as he lightly moved the boy to the side. "Next!"

After assuming the position, the next child, a little blonde girl, ran up and was launched in much the same fashion. She let out a shriek of terror as the descent began, and a sudden silence as Mammoth caught her, and set her down; she wasn't moving. Sunfire walked over, after making sure none of the other children moved from their places in line.

"Wanna go sit down?" he asked her quietly.

The girl said nothing, just nodded, and, smiling, Sunfire lifted her and brought her over to where the first boy was sitting. It continued for the next few minutes, as there were about twenty kids left. He crouched, they ran, he launched, and Mammoth caught; they all seemed to be having a grand ol' time doing it too. After the last child was thrown, Sunfire stood up, and told them all to come back after lunch. Turning, he finally seemed to notice that Raven was watching from the distance.

"And how about you, young miss, care to have a go?" he shouted over to her. She opened her mouth to say something, but he got there first. "Of course not, you didn't come here for fun."

"Hey, Sun, I'd like to try," Jinx said as she ran over to where the children were lined up before.

Raven cast a questioning glance at him, to which he shrugged and crouched down, cupped his hands, and got ready. They went through the same routine, only Jinx performed a few mid-air acrobatics while up there. She came rocketing down towards Mammoth, as she did so she held her palms flat, bathing them in a purple/pink aura, and she began to slow down, landing gracefully on the grass in front of the gargantuan teen.

'What was that?' Raven thought as she observed Jinx's new ability.

'/Her powers can do more than destroy/' Sunfire's message broke though the silence of her mind.

"That was fun," Jinx giggled, running over to him, followed slowly by Mammoth. "Can I go again?"

Sunfire turned to her, a pleasant smile on his face, but the twinkle was gone from his eyes. Instantly the hexmistress slowed her run to a walk, and then stopped, waiting for his reply. She knew it wasn't going to be the answer that she wanted to hear, nor was Raven being here helping her train of thought.

"Maybe later, you can be first in line," his voice was soft, melodic almost as he smiled a little wider. "But, right now, I think Raven wants to talk...alone, please."

Now that was going too far, Jinx may not have had anything against Raven anymore, but there was no way she was leaving _her_ Sunfire alone with the magus. And she was about to voice this opinion when the two of them just up and vanished, nothing left but the grass and wind. Opening her mouth, she was about to ask the rhetorical, 'what happened?', but refrained from doing so.

"Don't worry about it," Mammoth said, placing his hand on her tiny shoulder.

"And how am I supposed to do that?" she huffed.

* * *

Sunfire and Raven appeared in another part of the large park, in the shadow of a large tree, not two feet apart from each other. The Tamaranean slowly reached up and touched her cheek, stroking his thumb just beneath her eye, wiping away the tears he knew she was desperate to shed. The warm smile returned to his face as he lowered his lips to hers, gently kissing her, to which she returned it. Releasing her, he sat down on the ground, his back resting against the tree, and patted the ground next to him. After a moment's hesitation she took his offer and sat next to him, leaning herself against him. 

"I missed you," she said simply, though her thoughts told him she would just love shed tears of joy at finding him.

"I know," he sighed, longing to have been with her these past few days, but there was no way he would return to that tower, not unless he absolutely had to. "How have the others been."

"Well...Beast Boy is depressed, and a little mad at you, I'd stay out of his way if I were you," she sighed at the changeling's ranting the other day, after hearing about Terra. "Cyborg and Starfire are the same, pretty much, though Starfire does seem a little weary about you being out on your own."

"Understandable, and the fearless leader?"

"Robin, he's been snapping at everyone, probably wants to lecture you," she laughed lightly, not at Robin's action, but the thought of him trying to get Sunfire to listen. "Don't misunderstand his actions, he is relieved that Slade is in prison, but he won't accept that what you did was justified."

"Revenge can never justify anything, Raven," he looked away a little, at a group playing frisbee. "What I did was not for him, or for the people of the city, I did what I did solely for myself. Slade stole someone very important to me, and I was going to make him pay, not with death, but with a life of unending torment."

Raven was silent for the next few moments, she understood his actions, she herself would have done the same thing. Honestly, she could not think of a single person who wouldn't, even Starfire, the purest person she knew. To be in his position, with all his abilities, and being unable to save the person who mattered most to her, the Tamaranean princess would most likely have taken her own life afterwards, as retribution for what she had done. There's was no other way it could have gone, the only person who could have changed it was Sunfire, and he was very certain about what he had done.

"Well, someone's certainly thinking hard," he chuckled as she glared at him, but not the glare she used on others, this was a playful one. "Don't concentrate on something in the past Raven, there's no way to change it."

She could have pressed the matter, but she let it slide, just as she slid her body further against him. His arm was around her now, the forearm guard was a slight eyesore, but she could live with it, having not seen what was beneath it. Letting out a very content sigh, she practically fell onto him, her body dozing off into a pleasant sleep. Sunfire, even before this, could tell she hadn't slept much, always worrying about him, even though there was no point. Lightly his hand stroked her hair, smiling at her serene expression.

'Such a beautiful girl,' he mused to himself, 'someone like her should never have to suffer, but, alas, it is inevitable.'

They remained like this for quite some time, as Raven had actually not slept since he left, and was in dire need of a nap. Sunfire didn't mind, so long as she was safe, and in his arms, he was completely at peace. The urge to enter her dreams and speak with her there had crossed his mind, but he decided to let her rest and have her own dreams.

"Sweet dreams, little Raven," he spoke while brushing a lock of hair away from her face.

* * *

When Raven awoke, the sun was already setting, and Sunfire had apparently dozed off as well, though his sleep was much lighter, and he woke when she stirred. He nodded in the direction of the setting sun, and raven looked, a smile starting to tug at the corners of her lips. Together they watched the sun set over the tops of the buildings, which blocked their view of Titans' Tower, and the ocean beyond it. 

"You should be getting back soon."

"I'm not going back without you," Raven retorted, her slim hand grabbing hold of his forearm.

"Don't worry, I'll come back," he chuckled a little at her attempts to hold him. "I promise."

Raven was inclined to agree, since he hadn't broken a promise yet, to her at least. It was at this time she wondered what he had been doing all this time, had he been here the whole time, or had he, Jinx, and Mammoth been wandering the city? The latter did sound a bit more plausible, since it was hard for her to imagine him being here, and not being in the paper.

"Sunfire...?"

"Raven, does it really matter that much to you, to know where I've been?"

"No, not really, I'm just happy you're here now," she leaned up and kissed him softly. "How long until you return?"

"When I can convince Jinx and Mammoth to come with me to Titans' Tower," he looked down, away from her face. "They've changed, Raven, and I am going to make sure they are never used as they were before."

"Was it your doing that made them like this?"

"I merely freed them from Brother Blood's mind control, they're actually very kind," he said, then snickered a little. "Though I think that Jinx is a little jealous of you."

* * *

Raven arrived back at the tower, and, after going inside, slumped into one of the chairs in the entrance hall. Even with all the sleep she had gotten in the park, she was still tired, and soon she had allowed her eyelids to close, and sleep overtook her. It was a light sleep, since she had only meant to rest her eyes before going up. But, before her first dream could start, the alarm went off, yanking her to the waking world. Lifting off from the floor, she went up through the ceiling, emerging in the common room. The others were already there, and on the screen was video footage of Dr. Light, robbing a bank vault. 

"Good of you to join us, Raven," Robin snapped at her sharply, then yelled, "Titans, move out!"

The dark magus was about to say something, but decided against it, feeling just too tired to argue. So she followed them out the door, ready to do her job.

* * *

"So, how long are we going to be here?" Blackfire asked, impatiently tapping her foot. 

"For as long as it takes," Moonfire retorted, then went back to his task at hand, probing Sunfire's mind.

They had arrived on Pluto earlier that day, after days of flying through empty space. Blackfire stood about twenty feet from where her companion was sitting, rooting through his brother's memories. He could do this, and only this, inside Sunfire's mind, otherwise his brother's mental defenses would retaliate against the intruder. Many things had gone on on Earth since he last checked in, one of which was that the girl he planned to rip from his brother was gone; she gave her own life to save them all. He spat at the memories, heroics had always made him nauseous.

"That leaves two others, but which one would be best to grab, his memories of them are hard to see," he mumbled to himself, trying to tear down the wall between him and those memories, but it was no use. "I guess I'll just have to take a guess at right one."

"What are you mumbling about?"

"There's been a change in plans, I just need to work it into scheme of things," he stated calmly, causing Blackfire to take a step back, when he spoke like that, she knew not to push the issue.

She didn't even know why she was here, just that there was this voice in the back of her mind telling her to go along. So here she was, on a planet on the edge of a solar system in the boondocks of the galaxy, waiting for Moonfire to get his act together. Soon they would be heading off for Earth, a miserable little mudball with people so ignorant they still didn't believe that aliens existed.

The alien princess was getting tired of waiting, this person was spending far too much time planning. She couldn't deal with it, since she ad always been more inclined to the "snatch and grab" route, rather than make complicated plans. It was almost enough to drive her insane, almost, but not quite. Here they were, less than a light-year from their goal, and he has to change the plan.

"Why don't you go blow up some rocks, or something, this might take some time," Moonfire said, looking over his shoulder at her.

"Fine," she huffed and walked away.

* * *

Jinx and Mammoth watched Sunfire as he sat outside of a cave, wondering exactly what he was here for. He had been there for quite a while now, since it was far past midnight. They just stayed where they were, watching him, while trying to fend off sleep. 

"He looks lost in thought," Mammoth said.

"Think it's about Terra?" his pink-haired companion suggested.

"Maybe."

Sunfire could hear what they were saying, and was mildly surprised they picked up on it so quickly. He had come here to think, and reminisce with himself about Terra. She had been almost his entire life, a lump of unshapen clay for him to mold, make into a good person. But it had ended so abruptly, and he couldn't have done anything about it. What made things worse was that he could have done something, he could have gone for her instead of Blood, chosen to rescue her instead of leaving it to Robin.

Looking down, he saw the remains of the combustion fern he had planted for her. Now it just reminded him of her death, her body trapped in stone, he essence returned to the earth. Reaching out, he placed his hand on the plant, feeling the ecomancing power flow from his fingertips into the plant. The fern began to come back to life, the leaves turning green, the stem becoming it's usual black color. Then it began to regress, getting smaller, younger, until there was nothing left but a seed, which he then pocketed.

"I will find a way to bring you back Terra," he stood up and looked down into the cave. "If not with my powers, then with someone else's."

Turning away from the cave, he proceeded up the hill behind it, until he was at the top, looking at Titans' Tower in the distance. He sighed, knowing he would have to go back there one day, he had a promise to keep after all. Jinx and Mammoth stepped up beside him, both of them looking at the tower as well. They were all for going, but Jinx could tell that there was something keeping Sunfire from going back. It was something completely foreign and unknown to hexmistress, it was similar to disappointment, but not quite it.

"Ready to go?" he asked them.

"We might as well," Jinx said, "but let's take our time."

* * *

It was about dawn when they arrived at Titans' Tower, early enough that it was likely none of them would be awake. So, upon entering, Sunfire had been expecting the entrance hall to be empty, but it wasn't, Raven was there. She may have been asleep in the same chair as earlier that night, but she was still there. Sunfire lifted her gently, so as not to wake her, and carried her towards the elevator. Jinx made a slight face at this, but kept it to herself. 

"I'm sure you both know your way around here already, so come on," he jerked his head for them to follow.

The elevator ride was swift, while being slightly cramped with Mammoth's bulk squeezed in. As the doors hissed open into the common room, Sunfire was surprised to find it empty; he had been expecting at least Robin to be there waiting. After telling Jinx and Mammoth to wait there, he proceeded in putting Raven to bed.

Upon entering her room, he realized it was the first time he had been in here. Shrugging it off, he held her in one arm and removed her cloak with the other, draping it over a chair off to the side. With that off her pulled the covers on her bed back and laid her down, pulling the covers back up. Feeling and urge to do something more, he lightly kissed her cheek, then left.

The door slid shut, and he breathed a sigh of relief; despite everything, it did feel somewhat good to be back. As he walked the halls back to the main room, he could feel the tower beginning to awaken; doors were beginning to open, and footsteps could be heard in the halls. When he entered the common room, he saw Jinx and Mammoth sitting on the couch, waiting.

Just as he made it to the bottom step, the door behind him opened, and there stood Beast Boy. The sleep was quite evident on the green boy's face, but that quickly cleared up when he saw who was there. Sunfire turned to look at him, the look of contempt on the teenager's face, the thoughts of what he would like to do to the alien, and the utter realization of his complete inability to do so, instead of saying anything, Beast Boy just turned and headed for the kitchen.

"That went well," Sunfire mumbled to himself.

The doors wooshed open again and Starfire floated in, sighted Sunfire, and let out a squeal.

"You have returned!" she cried out with...glee?

Instantly her arms were around his neck, hugging him with all the strength she could muster. He even felt himself begin to rise off the floor, it was slight, but it was still there. Upon letting go, she looked behin him, and finally spotted the two former HIVE students.

"Um...hi?" Jinx said shyly, Mammoth just nodded.

The alien princess cast a glance at Sunfire, questioning him silently why they were here.

"It's okay, they're free of Blood's control, for good," he smiled down at her, and turned back to the door, waiting for the next person to come through.

It turned out to be Robin, possibly the last person Sunfire wanted to see. Robin looked about to just let it all out, give the alien a piece of his mind, yell until he was hoarse, but Raven's words the other night came back to him. Sunfire looked ready and willing to take whatever the teen was going to throw at him, but Robin surprised him by doing exactly what Beast Boy did, and walked away.

'I'll get to him after breakfast,' he thought while walking for the kitchen, then he stopped, finally noticing that Jinx and Mammoth were sitting there, looking at him expectantly. "I didn't know you were brining company."

Sunfire smirked, having gotten Robin to acknowledge his existence.

TBC

* * *

I had to end this chapter, it's taking too long, even if it did just take me a few days to write, I've been keeping all of you waiting for months. Why? Because it takes me months to plan the next chapter, and, instead of writing on the fly, I use what ideas I've come with in the chapter. So, if you want the chapters up faster, then take some of the load off of me, and send me your ideas. Who knows, I might even use some of them. While the end result of the story will be the same, I'll still need to figure out what to do between now and then. 


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans 

Thank you all for reviewing, hope you like this chapter. 

( ) author's notes 

- dreamscape 

'/' - telepathy 

+ - mindscape 

The Titan 

Chapter 9 

Written by Nate Sindel

* * *

"Please, do you wish to join us in the breaking of the fast?" Starfire eagerly asked the reformed HIVE members. 

Jinx looked somewhat apprehensive at the idea, as well as the over-enthusiastic alien. She looked at Sunfire, whose gaze was still locked with Robin's, hoping to get his take on the situation. Sensing what she wanted, she saw his hand move ever so slightly, taking that as the "yes" that it was, she nodded to the smiling Starfire. 

"Sure, the big guy and I haven't eaten in a little while," she smiled her own small smile, which was met with the redhead grabbing her hand and practically dragging her to breakfast table. 

Mammoth followed, chuckling at the look on the girl's face, this earned him a glare from her. He, too, glanced over at Sunfire, the golden-haired alien, again, motioned with his hand. As he turned back he saw, in his peripheral vision, Sunfire begin to follow Robin through the door. Not bothering to tell Jinx, he simply continued to the table as well.

* * *

Sunfire followed the Titans' leader through the halls of Titans' Tower, wondering, exactly, what the boy wanted. He had many ideas, at least one of them had to be correct. After another flight of stairs, they were on the roof, looking out at the city, the sun still rising over the mountain behind it. It was here that Robin turned around, regarding the alien with a weary eye. 

"If you wish to wait till after breakfast, I won't stop you," Sunfire suggested, then added, "it is unlikely the reason you brought me here, as well as the conversation, will be any different." 

"What makes you say that?" Robin inquired, looking somewhat skeptical. 

"Because you don't change, Robin, you get something on your mind, and it doesn't go away until you let it out," he shrugged, not even bothering to look at Robin. "And even then it may not go away." 

"Heh, you never know, I might be in a better mood after I eat," the teen quipped. 

"Heh, not when it comes to me," Sunfire smirked, then turned to head back inside. 

"Where are you going?" 

"If you don't mind, Raven is waking up, I'd like to be there," he said, and, just before reaching the door, melting into the roof. 

"Guess that means I get to eat," Robin sighed before going for the door.

* * *

A gold spiral began to glow on Raven's ceiling, through it Sunfire entered, being careful to be as quiet as possible. His feet were silent as they touched down on the floor, and still no sound was emitted as he walked over to her bed. He looked down at the girl who looked so fragile, but was, in fact, on par with him if she ever let go. She stirred slightly, and he knelt the foot of her bed, turning himself around so his back was against it. Still he watched her, as she grabbed the second pillow on her bed and hugged it to her. 

"Mmmm...Sunfire," he heard her moan softly, causing him to stiffen slightly (no, not that, perverts). 

A small smile graced his face as he watched his dark angel in her slumber. She rolled over, pulling the sheets slightly away from her body, as she began to awaken. Amethyst eyes drifted open and locked on the smiling form at the foot of her bed. She wasn't surprised he was there, somehow, even though she had been asleep, she knew he had brought her here, and that he would be here. 

"Morning," he said. 

"Morning," she replied, sitting up.

* * *

Sunfire and Raven entered the common room a little later, seeing Jinx and Mammoth still eating breakfast. Mammoth apparently eating everything the Tamaranean placed in front of him, everything. There was food that Terra probably wouldn't have touched, and it all disappeared one it hit his place. Jinx, on the other hand, was just watching, and looking queasier and queasier with each new dish her gargantuan friend downed. The sound of the door opening caught her attention, and she turned to see who it was. 

"I hope you saved some of those stuffed _ral'nak_ bladders," Sunfire called over, to which Raven stuck her tongue out and made a face. 

The golden-haired Tamaranean simply laughed a little at her display, before heading over to the table. Instantly a plate of the food he requested was placed in front of him, and, after thanking the princess behind him, he dug in. They were similar in size and shape to a tomato, with two ends tied off with ligaments. As he bit into one, a green juice began to leak from around his lips, and when he pulled away, the inside could be seen to be stuffed with something never seen on Earth. After savoring the first bite, he tossed it up, wiped his mouth while it was still in the air, and allowed it to drop down his throat. 

Raven and Jinx simply sat there and watched in horror as he finished the batch of twelve. Both of them looked, if anything, even more pale, and Jinx's pigtails were beginning to droop. Green eyes slid over them both, and a plate of bacon and scrambled eggs appeared in front of the hexmistress, while a cup of herbal tea appeared in front of Raven. Their eyes roamed over to Sunfire, who was simply licking his fingers of more of the green juice, smiling smugly. 

"Well, at least it's normal food," Jinx said as she scooped up some of the eggs. 

"Apparently we have very different views of normal," Sunfire laughed a little. 

"Sunfire," he twisted his head to face Beast Boy, who was at the other end of the table. "Mind if I have a word with you?" 

"Yes, I do, so if you don't mind waiting," his eyes narrowed, as did the green boy's, "I haven't finished eating." 

"Listen here..." Beast Boy started. 

'/No, you listen, trying to make a spectacle of yourself isn't going to make me hurry/' Sunfire's voice boomed into the changeling's mind, stunning him into silence. '/Now, you will wait/' 

Beast Boy just nodded, and silently went back to his seat, slumping down into the chair. Raven knew what that was about, and a quick glance to Sunfire confirmed it. Jinx looked between the three of them, wondering exactly why Beast Boy had just stopped. She didn't know how Beast Boy had cared about Terra, how he blamed Sunfire for her death.

* * *

"Well, here we are again," Sunfire said as he preened one of his wings. 

"Yeah," Robin sighed, watching the alien clean his feathered appendage. "What you did was unnecessary, and unacceptable." 

"Hmph, you're one to talk," he scoffed. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

"You, of all people, should understand what I had felt, why I did what I did, because you came very close to doing the same thing," the wing he had been cleaning vanished, to be replaced by another, "when you saw your parents murdered." 

Robin's eyes widened upon hearing this, no one at the tower knew about that, it wasn't even on his personal file. He breathed deep, trying to calm down, to keep Sunfire from goading him into becoming emotional, to keep this discussion about the alien, not himself. The alien in question merely watched him, gauging his reaction to the fact that he knew something that very few people knew. 

"This isn't about me, Sunfire, this is about what you did." 

"This is just as much about you as it is about me, and, as for what I did, you would have done the same, if you had the power to do so," Sunfire's eyes narrowed on Robin as he plucked a stray feather from his wing. Using a minute amount of his power, he wiped it from existence. "I believe Raven has made this point perfectly clear to you already, thus all your further arguments will fall on deaf ears." 

"Sunfire..." 

"You, yourself, have done terrible things, Robin, not as horrible as myself, but, in the eyes of ones so blind to the universe," he turned golden glowing eyes to the Titans' leader, "you are very much like Slade." 

The two stayed where they were, staring each other down, Sunfire standing, while Robin was in a fighting stance. He hated being compared to Slade, and, even though the similarities were right in front of him, he still refused to see them. To him, the world was black and white, right and wrong, and he was always on the right side...right? 

"Are you going to mentally kick yourself all day?" Sunfire asked, after about five minutes of staring. "You need to calm yourself, thinking too hard leads to over thinking, and over thinking leads to confusion." 

"Will you stop looking into my mind," Robin growled. 

"I don't have to, your behavior tells me everything I could ever need to know." 

"How did you know about my parents, I know for a fact that you have to have physical contact to gather that kind of information, so how did you do it?" 

"It was the strongest thought you had at the moment I attacked Slade," the alien turned away. "You understood what I felt, what I was doing, and you wished it were you in my place. Your own mind was practically screaming that thought." 

"And what do you plan to do about Brother Blood?" 

"I plan to kill him, as well as all those who aid him," Sunfire said simply, as if it should be obvious. "I suggest you stay out of my way." 

Robin looked on in silence as Sunfire turned to head for the door. Now it was his turn to read the young man's body language, he could tell that Sunfire had no idea where Blood was, and was reaching out with every last bit of mental power he could muster. Casting one last look over his shoulder, the alien shut the door, leaving Robin to his thoughts.

* * *

Time passes, and a storm rolls in, lightening flashing outside the windows of the tower, as sheets of rain splatter the glass. The Titans were all in the common room, sitting around the TV, Jinx and Mammoth were there as well. Jinx sat on one side of Sunfire, while Raven sat one the other, both of their heads resting against his shoulders. He, on the other hand, was barely concentrating on them, nor was he concentrating on the TV. There was something outside. 

Lightening flashed as the perimeter alarms went off, and everyone was up, heading for the stairs. Sunfire made it there first, seeing a shadowy form pushing the doors open. He stood, calm, waiting for the others to get there, which they did a few seconds later. The shadow lifted to reveal a fairly worn out Aqualad. 

"Your trash is in my ocean," he said in a very irritated voice.

* * *

Minutes later, in the main room, a picture of Brother Blood appeared on the screen, causing Sunfire's eyes to narrow and a slight snarl to emanate from his throat. Locking his eyes on the Atalantian, he questioned the young boy what this was about. 

"Brother Blood has set up a new base of operations several miles out to sea, and is building some kind of weapon," he inserted a disc, bringing up the schematic. "It's a sonic amplifier." 

"That's not just a sonic amplifier," Cyborg said as his arm switched to his cannon, "that's **my** sonic cannon! How did he get a handle on my blueprints!" 

"He must have hacked your system while you were in the stasis pod," Sunfire suggested, stepping up and typing in a few lines of code, which altered the schematic. "How did you get these." 

"I have a double agent working in the HIVE, they went to great trouble to get these to me." 

"Alright, we have to get in there, and shut it down," Robin said, punching his fist into his open hand. 

"Or I could just blow it up," the golden-haired alien suggested, gold lightening dancing across his fingertips. 

"Too risky, besides, Blood's been able to deflect your starbolts before," the boy wonder shot back. 

"Who said I'd be using those," a smirk graced Sunfire's lips, "but I suppose you're right, besides, don't want to kill the lovely young lady who got us these plans." 

"How did you know?" Aqualad whipped his gaze towards Sunfire. 

"I took a peak into Bumblebee's mind a few days ago, found out all I needed to know," he said, looking to Cyborg. "You can shut it down, right?" 

"Yeah," Cyborg said, sounding much too pleased with the idea of going after the man who took his blueprints. 

"Good, now..." 

"Hold it, there's one small problem," Robin spoke up, "there's a shield protecting the core, we'll have to get that offline first. Aqualad and Beast Boy, you're job is to take out the shield." 

"Right, we got it," Beast Boy said. 

"Sunfire, you and Cyborg are going to get to the resonator core, and shut it down." 

"And what about you?" Sunfire queried. 

"Starfire, Raven, and myself are going to go after Blood." 

"Hmh, while I don't fully agree with your plan, I'll go along with it...for now," the alien whispered to Robin, before moving away. 

"Okay, so we're all set?" 

"What about us?" Jinx asked, gesturing to herself and Mammoth. "We're not just going to stay here and wait." 

"I'm afraid you're going to have to, there isn't enough room in the T-sub," Robin said apologetically. 

"Do not worry friend Jinx, we will be back before you can say _fre'opk bre'grun_," Starfire chided cheerfully. 

"But..." 

"Jennifer Ingrid Natasha Xephyr, you are staying here," Sunfire snapped, eyes flashing. "Is that clear?" 

"Yes," she conceded meekly.

* * *

About an hour later, after the plan of attack was explained, they made their way to the shore, while Cyborg brought the T-sub around. Standing on the shore, jinx and Mammoth wished them good luck and watched as the T-sub, with four Titans inside took off. Beast Boy and Aqualad departed as well, the changeling taking on the form of a marlin. Sunfire, though, hung back a bit, looking at Jinx, who still had a hurt expression on her face. Touching down gently, he stepped up to her. 

"I am sorry that I snapped, but you must stay here," he said softly, placing a hand on her slim shoulder. "You two need to rest, now go back inside." 

"Okay," she sighed, and, standing up on her tip toes, kissed him on the cheek. "For luck." 

Nodding, he floated slightly, then turned and took off, skimming just above the water. It didn't take him long to catch up with the others, who were not far at all. He dropped down to just above the water, watching how the air pushed out of in front of him caused the depression of the surface. Looking below, he saw Aqualad and Beast Boy, swimming as fast as they could to catch up with the sub. 

'/So, how did Blood get you the first time/' Beast Boy asked Aqualad, using fish telepathy. 

'/He used his telepathy to block my communications with the fish/' the Atlatian answered. '/So, without any of them to help me.../' 

'/...You got schooled/' the green marlin finished for him. 

'/In so many words, yeah/'

* * *

"Headmaster, incoming," Bumblebee said, watching the screen in front of her. 

"Hm, it would seem the fish-boy is back for another round," Brother Blood chuckled from his seat. "Prepare the welcoming committee." 

Nodding, the young woman pressed a few buttons that opened a door on the outside of the complex.

* * *

The T-sub was at last within visual range of the structure, which looked basically like Cyborg's arm, except much, much larger. Then, from behind a rock, a long tentacle reached out and took a swipe at them. Evading quickly, they saw that the tentacle was part organic, part mechanical, with plating that looked exactly like Cyborg's. 

"What was that?" Robin asked, looking every which way through his canopy to try and spot it. 

The ground beneath them exploded as a giant techno-organic squid rose up, tentacles flailing with deadly intent. It wasn't long before one snagged a wing of the T-sub, intending to pull it down into the sea floor. A golden sphere then exploded down through the surface, severing the tentacle, and releasing the damaged sub. 

"Cyborg, place the T-sub down on the floor at a safe distance from the creature," Sunfire's voice broke oer the radio. "I have an idea." 

"Robin?" the mechanical man asked, wondering if he should do it. 

"Do it," the Titans' leader said as he saw water seeping into Starfire's pod. 

The T-sub pulled up, away from the squid and circled around to the other side of the massive sonic resonator tower. He set it down on a relatively flat patch of sea floor, and watched as another golden starbolt burst through the surface, slamming into the main body of the altered beast, blowing it in half.

* * *

Above the surface, Sunfire hovered directly over the tower, which was visible just below. Gritting his teeth, he pushed his hands down, hoping that this would work. A depression in the water formed beneath him, as if a giant bowl was being pushed down. It grew larger and deeper, soon the top of the tower was visible, and then the shaft began to be made known. 

Soon the entire facility was exposed, as was the sea floor for about a quarter mile radius. Within that radius was the T-sub, which the Titans were already exiting, with Cyborg checking the damage. Sunfire dropped down next to them, making sure that Raven was okay. Beast Boy and Aqualad ran up to them, since there was no water to swim in. 

"That was..." Robin started. 

"Unnecessary?" Sunfire asked, cocking a smile at the boy. 

"Not entirely." 

"The creature needed to be destroyed, Robin." 

"Actually, I was talking about this," he gestured to the massive walls of water all around them. 

"Too bad," the alien said flippantly, then started off on his way the massive tower. "We should get doing, don't want to keep our host waiting."

* * *

In the control room, Blood sat brooding over this recent development. The tsunami he had been planning was not going to work without water covering the resonator. Growling a small string of curses at the Tamaranean, he settled further in to his chair, looking around at the cloaked HIVE figures. 

"So, they think that they can just waltz in and take me down," he sneered, plotting his revenge against Sunfire, "well they've got another thing coming."

* * *

The Titans walked along the rocky, exposed seabed, Sunfire taking point, and the others trailing behind him. Aqualad moved forward, getting closer to the startlingly calm young man, who, for all intents and purposes, had the expression of someone going out for a night on the town. This made the ocean protector very uneasy, not even Raven looked as calm as he did, and she had her stoic face on. 

"How were you able to move the waters like that?" the young Atlantian asked. 

"I'm not sure, and I don't care to explain myself," Sunfire replied in a very disturbing monotone. "Any more questions?" 

"No, I'm good," Aqualad said quickly, and moved off. 

"We're almost there, try to keep your wits about you," the alien smirked as they neared the tower. 

As they neared the massive door, it began to open, and a multitude of HIVE soldiers ran out, guns blazing. They didn't make three steps before their weapons were bent by an unseen force, and they all felt a wrenching pain in their chests as their hearts were squeezed to pulp. All of them dropped the ground at almost the same time, half of them had been alive along enough to see the other half die. 

All eyes were on Sunfire, whose pleasant demeanor hadn't faltered in the least. He still smirked, eyes wide with a child-like curiosity, standing completely lose. Turning, his expression changed, his eyes were closed, and a small frown replaced his smirk. His eyes opened, revealing them to be downcast, and apologetic. 

"I'm sorry to have to do this," he said as massive slabs of rock formed around the others, enclosing them in a dome, with holes placed strategically for light and air, "but I can't have you getting in my way." 

"Sunfire, what do you think you're doing?" Robin yelled through one of the holes, while, behind him, the others were trying everything to break out. 

"I told you, Robin, I'm going to kill Blood, and all those who aid him," the alien replied, still looking sorry. "None of you are necessary in what I plan on doing." 

He turned around and began walking. 

"You'll be safe in there for the time being," he shouted back over his shoulder, "and don't waste your energy in trying to escape, as Raven has already told you, I can bend matter to my every whim, and changing that sand into chromozite was a simple process." 

Through the dead bodies of HIVE soldiers he walked, not even passing them a second glance. Instead, the bodies simply faded into nonexistence. His face showed no remorse, no contempt, he was placid, calm as can be. He knew what needed to be done, and if this was too much for the boy with the birdarang up his ass, then so what, not much Robin could do about it. 

'Terra will be avenged,' he thought as he walked through the newly melted hole in the door, 'all those who hurt and mistreated her will feel my wrath.'

* * *

From the control room, Blood watched on several monitors Sunfire's tour though the complex. His teeth gritted as he felt the rage emanating from the being, who was going for the core. 

"Little does he know that I have a surprise for him," Brother Blood smirked as he settled back into his seat. 

Then his hands flew to his head, grasping at what little hair he had left as he flew from his seat to the floor. The pain he was feeling was beyond anything he had ever felt, or inflicted. It was as if his entire body, every cell, right down to the cytoplasm and mitochondria was burning with an ethereal fire that could never be quenched. The next moment it was gone, and he stood, looking around at all the people staring at him. 

"Well, what are you waiting for...GO INTERCEPT THE INTRUDER!" he nearly screamed at them, red lightening flashing from his eyes. 

TBC 

Finally, this one took me a little while, mainly because I wasn't sure how to weave in the whole Aqualad storyline. Hope you all like it, I'll be going to work on one of my forgotten stories now, my KP fic "The Assassin: Nemesis", so keep an eye out for that. Late. 


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans 

I hate when I can count the reviews I get on only one hand. 

( ) author's notes 

'/' - telepathy 

... - mindscape 

The Titan 

Chapter 10 

Written by Nate Sindel

* * *

This wasn't really what Sunfire had expected, he had expected less resistance. But these HIVE soldiers, instead of running and saving themselves, decided to stand and fight. And die. He sent them lfying every which way with naught but a flick of his hand. Bullets sped toward him, but never found their mark, rather they imbedded in the bodies of other HIVE guards. 

"Let's see, which way was it again?" he pondered aloud, recalling the blueprints he had seen earlier. 

Seeming to remember, he took a right, and was met with a spider-like leg. Following the leg up to the backpack worn by none other than the midget villain Gizmo. His slight frown deepened, he had thought the small one had died in the destruction of the HIVE academy. 

"Well, if isn't the sludge chugger," Gizmo sneered, but Sunfire said nothing. 

He, instead, reached out and grabbed the leg, the metal melting beneath his fingers. Tiny, spider-web cracks began to form as Gizmo tried to pull away; in response, Sunfire let go. The boy stumbled back, the cracks, which were glowing a faint orange, continued the spread up the leg. Soon they reached the backpack, causing it to short, shocking the tiny human in the process. 

"You really should have just stayed in your room," the alien said, his voice cold, "it would have been less painful." 

After saying this, he walked calmly beneath the frantic child, who was trying to eject the backpack, and was failing. At the end of this hall was a large door, a door marked "Resonator Core" stood between him and his destination.

* * *

Back outside, the others had basically given up on escaping, not one had attempted since Sunfire had told them it was unbreakable. Beast Boy had made a few attempts, changing into a mouse and trying to get through a hole, which shrunk accordingly to keep him in. Cursing under his breath he turned around and sat himself against the wall, the hole behind him opening again to its original diameter. 

"There's got to be a way out," Robin pondered, standing in the middle with his hand on his chin. 

'There is,' Raven thought, looking at the hole nearest her, 'but he already told not to interfere.' 

Before Sunfire had gone inside, he had sent Raven a message, a message to stay put, to not leave the dome. He knew she could, her shadow form would easily pass through the chromozite walls, no matter how thick and dense they were. The alloy may have been impenetrable by any kind of weapon, but that didn't mean it couldn't be breached by an astral body. 

"Raven," she jerked from her reverie at Robin's voice, "any ideas?" 

"No, he...seems to be jamming my powers," she lied quickly, she had not intention of going against Sunfire, and wasn't about to have Robin force her to do so. 

"Dammit," he muttered, turning on his heel and stalking to the other side of the dome. "He's apparently thought of everything."

* * *

The door was dispatched easily, a little heat, a little push, and the metal simply melted away. He couldn't help but smile a little, just a little, at the site before him...Bumblebee and Brother Blood. They stood, waiting, for what, he didn't really know, nor did her care. 

"Bumblebee, attack!" Blood barked pointing at the alien. 

"I really don't think so," Sunfire smirked, and the black girl just up and vanished. "Now, where were we last time?" 

Four wings sprouted from his back, and gold lightening dance around his hands and hair. It was then he noticed something about Blood, he wasn't acting normally, not like in the cave, where he had been weak, but it was like his body was resisting its own movements; this was very apparent as he attempted to stop himself from removing his white cloak. 

'What is this?' the alien wondered, nothing about this felt right. "You!" 

"Ah, Brother, you finally figured it out," Blood spoke, but his was not the only voice, there was another, a more sinister, sibilant voice alongside it. "Yes, this body shall prove useful to see how far along you've come since escaping my control." 

"Moonfire, why not just come down here yourself?" 

"All in good time, Sunfire, all in good time, but for now you'll just have to contend with this old man," Blood's face sneered, but it was - again - forced; he was resisting. 

With a low growl, Sunfire charged forward, hands flaring with the golden aura of his starbolts. He stopped mere inches from the possessed Blood, and let loose with twin golden beams from his eyes. Apparently his brother had not seen this coming, or he just didn't care what happened to Blood, the end result was the old man getting blown back against the shield surrounding the resonator core. 

"You're getting slow, brother," Sunfire said, as he reached up and calmly removed the forearm guards he was wearing, revealing the twisted flesh of his arm. "Now, how about telling me was this is about, why have you followed me all the way here?" 

"I suppose it was a little brash to come after you, since I could probably do it myself better," his voice continued to sound as two, as he picked himself up. "But think about it, why should I get my hands dirty when you're the wanted one?" 

The blonde Tamaranean heaved a sigh, this was getting them nowhere, and he hated when things went that way. Taking a swift step forward, his hand was buried in the old man's gut, forcing him roughly against the barrier. His other hand planted itself on Blood's face, shoving that against the shock of the shield as well, hoping that the pain and discomfort would drive Moonfire from this body. 

"You forgot already, I feed on pain!" the sibilant voice was stronger this time, as red lightening, tinged with black, arced from his hands, and into Sunfire's abdomen, throwing him back along the catwalk. "The more pain inflicted to this body, the stronger my control over him grows." 

"Something to remember," Sunfire spoke under his breath, coughing up a little blood. "You know, control really means nothing when the one you're controlling is completely incapacitated." 

He threw an extra strong starbolt at Blood's leg, removing it at the knee; he then switched tactics and attacked with his Phoenix Blade. The slash was far too fast to see, let alone dodge, but the possessed man moved away with ease. The alien had to move quickly himself, lest he get caught by that red/black lightening Moonfire was now slinging about. 

Blade away, Sunfire decided that perhaps miming would be a better tactic, so, lining his fingers together, he slashed, a whip of golden light sprung from his fingertips. The two streams of power connected, and rebounded, only to be slashed again, blue electricity arching from the meeting points to blast electronics out of the walls. Lining his other hand, he unleashed a second whip, using this to attempt at getting inside his brother's attacks. 

"Come on, Sunfire, you're faster than this," he chided to himself, knowing it was true. 

A well placed slash removed Blood's other leg, leaving him to float on his psychic power. That's when the lightening - which was now all black - vanished, and he floated back a little ways. 

"Hm, you have gotten stronger, but I believe we will leave this fight to be concluded between us personally," Moonfire's voice had completely overlapped Blood's now. "This one has worn out his usefulness." 

With that, Blood's own hands began to reach up, and grasped the sides of his head, beginning to slowly twist. 

"No," Sunfire whispered. 

"Yes, isn't this what you wanted, you wanted from the very beginning to kill this man, so I am apparently doing you a favor." 

The final twist, and Blood's neck snapped, his head pulling a 180, and his body fell to the floor. Sunfire moved instantly to the dead man's side, examining the shattered cervical vertebra. He lowered his head, he didn't want it to end like this, not like this at all. 

"Sunfire!" he turned at the sound of Raven's voice. 

She stood in the door, Bumblebee beside her, following the instructions he gave her when he transported her. He stood, wiping the sweat from his forehead, and looked at Raven's shocked expression. What was thinking instantly blasted into his head. 

"How...how could you?" she asked, her eyes wide. 

"I didn't kill him, Raven," he walked over to her, leaving the body there. "Moonfire did." 

"Moonfire?" she looked up at him, realization dawning on her. "Oh..." 

"Come on, we need to get the others out of the cage," he said, waking past her; as he did si, she could have sworn she had seen him smile.

* * *

Not long after, the others were released, and back in a miraculously fixed T-sub. A hand of water extended from the walls around them and picked up the craft, bringing it back to the ocean. Sunfire hovered over them, his eyes fixed on the complex beneath him. His green irises flared red, and the rest turned black, blazing flames erupted around him, as his hand was raised above his head. 

"NOW, INFERNO!" he called, launching the sphere of condensed energy down at the top of the resonator. 

As the ball streaked down toward its destination, a ring began to form around it, making it look like the planet Saturn, except on fire. The strike hit home, plowing down through the top of the building, blasting past the barrier around the core - incinerating Blood's body in the process - and continued further, right down to the power source. The amount of energy in that single attack caused a massive explosion, destroying the HIVE buildings, and seemingly causing the walls of water to com crashing back down upon it, smothering everything with the power of the ocean. 

"It's over," he sighed, turning to head back to the tower. "For now, anyway." 

TBC 

There, just a little something for you guys to enjoy while waiting for the next chapter. I could have made this longer, but felt like just having it conclude what began last chapter. For a picture of Inferno, check my profile for a link to fanart-central. net. Spaces are required for you to see the website. Course, you probably don't read this...I could say anything...neh. 


	12. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans 

I hate when I can count the reviews I get on only one hand. 

( ) author's notes 

(-) flashback 

)-( - mindscape 

The Titan 

Chapter 10 

Written by Nate Sindel

* * *

"Ha, time for us to go," Moonfire announced to his bored companion. 

Blackfire looked up from where she was sitting, the outstretched hand and smile caused her to do a double take. Irked beyond belief at his sudden change, she took his hand and was hauled to her feet. Combing a hand through her hair, she dusted herself off, and checked for any dirt she may have missed. 

"What's got you in a good mood?" she asked, stretching a few times. 

"He's shown me who to take," he chuckled, grabbing his cloak and pulling it on.

* * *

Sunfire was in a decidedly less enthusiastic mood than his brother. He continuously paced about atop Titans' Tower, casting a weary eye towards the starry sky. This was just the calm before the storm, the building of pressure, getting ready to be released. And he was responsible for bringing it to this planet, he was solely at fault. 

He fingered the butterfly clip that he held, a momento of Terra's that was fished up from the bay. Knowing full well that nothing could have changed the moment she offered herself, he could not help but blame himself. If he had just gone to her, instead of following Brother Blood, perhaps she wouldn't have had to sacrifice herself. His fist closed around the hair clip. 

"I won't fail," he spoke to no one, "I'll keep my promise." 

"Which one?" a voice asked from behind him. 

"Jinx, what do you want?" he turned to look at her, green eyes not quite meeting hers. 

"I had a question," she walked over to stand beside him, "remember?" 

"Yes," he pirouetted to face the same direction as her. "It was only a few hours ago." 

(-) 

"Which of us do you want?" Jinx asked, having cornered Sunfire in the hall, "me or Raven?" 

(-) 

"Well I want an answer, I think I deserve one," she crossed her arms and huffed. 

"Is that so?" he looked at her from the corner of his eye. "I suppose you may deserve an answer." 

"And the answer is...?" 

"You already know the answer, you've know the answer for quite some time, but never wanted to believe it," he placed a hand on her tiny shoulder. "I do care for you Jinx, but it is Raven who I love." 

A sniffle caught his attention, and he looked right down to see her with a picture out in front of her, a picture of her and him, in his guise of Nate Sindel. He studied the picture, realizing it was from right after the food fight. His arm was around her shoulder, and they were laughing. This was a surprise, since he didn't see any cameras. 

"Where did...?" he reached for the photo. 

"I hacked the security system, found this in on one of the backlogged tapes," she pulled it away, slipping it back into her dress. "I thought we might have had something back then." 

"You did 'have something' with him," Sunfire stated, removing his hand from her shoulder. "But don't worry, you're still young; there is always the chance of finding someone else." 

"I know," she walked to the ledge, mindful of his gaze following her. "You wouldn't let me fall, would you?" 

"Heh, you won't even get off the ledge," his voice was deeper now, lower. 

Just to test what he said, she took an experimental step, and found that her foot wouldn't go past the edge. A small smile crept across her lips, the smile meant to hide the frown she desperately wanted. That voice had sounded so much like Sindel's, the voice she had been wanting to hear so badly. But she knew he was a fantasy, a fleeting figment of her imagination. 

"Is the city being evacuated?" Jinx asked. 

"The tri-city area is being taken care of," Sunfire responded, starting to walk towards the door. 

It had taken a few hours of his time, but he had explained it to the Titans - Jinx and Mammoth included. To him, the precautions were pointless, he and his brother settled things a little differently than what Robin was used to. Still, getting all these people out would be a good idea, since Moonfire always liked to arrive with a bang. 

His memory was beginning to fully clear, the last bits of fog were covering how he came to be. He remembered a black hole, and Moonfire, then pain, horrible, agonizing pain. That was how he had been made to submit, to come under his brother's control, and wreak havoc across the galaxy. The blame was solely on him, though, because it was his hands that were stained with the blood of billions of people, spanning thousands of world, thousands of races. 

"Whatever punishment had been placed on my head, I deserved it," he spoke softly now, more thinking aloud than anything. "But, now, I'm going to make it right." 

Once he was though the door, Jinx tried the ledge again, and found the barrier to still be in place.

* * *

Sunfire entered Raven's room to find her meditating. Before he could leave her to her thoughts, and claw of dark energy grabbed his wrist, beckoning him to stay. Deciding to heed this apparition, he ventured into the sanctuary of his love. The claw led him to a chair, making for him to sit, which he did. 

Before his eyes, from Raven's back, emerged another Raven, this one made of the same energy had the claw. Indeed the claw was coming from this girl. She moved towards him, almost sauntering as she crossed the room to sit on his lap. Her hand were placed on either side of his face, guiding his lips to her; those same hands soon found their way into his hair. His soon followed suit, crushing this girl to him. 

Not too long later, the lips began to feel more real, and, opening his eyes, he saw Raven sitting on his lap. But this was not where she stopped, as her hands released his hair and began to search for the bottom of his tank top, seeking to remove it. Keeping one hand in her hair, Sunfire's other undid the clasp on her cloak, throwing it onto the bed. Her hands found what they were looking for, and the front of his shirt was pushed up as far as it would go, and her hand roamed over his chest and abdomen. 

Finally they came up for air. 

"And what brought this on?" he asked, the largest smile possible on his face. 

"The world could end tomorrow," she said, laying her head on his shoulder, "this is the last chance we could have for this." 

"Raven," he kissed her cheek, moving his head to bury his nose in her hair, "this world will not end, I promise." 

"I don't want that to mean that I'm going to lose you," she spoke solemnly, but couldn't contain the giggle that came forth from his tickling. 

"Even if I cease to exist, you will never lose me," he placed a finger to her head, "so long as I am in here." 

"So, even after death, you mind will remain in mine?" 

"Yes," he kissed her forehead.

* * *

Robin sat in the training room, having just gone a few rounds with the new shadowboxing machine; it creates a shadow that is of the exact same strength as the person using it. He reached for his towel, but was unable to find it, until it was handed to him. Turning, he saw Starfire, moving to sit beside him. 

"Thanks," he sighed, the machine having taken more out of him than he thought. 

"You are welcome," she smiled sweetly, but he could tell there was something on her mind. 

"Nervous?" asked the Boy Wonder. 

"Yes," the smile fell. "Raven has told me of the Moonfire." 

"Yeah, Sunfire told us," he placed the towel down, and rested his hand on hers. "Starfire, I want you to know..." 

"Yes?" 

"...whatever happens when he gets here, we're going to leave it to Sunfire. You mean too much to all of us...to me...to lose."

* * *

Cyborg and Beast Boy had been given the job of helping the authorities evacuate Jump City. They had taken Mammoth with them, since he would be good at crowd control. Just having him standing there, pointing, got people going that way. Given that their job was important, Beast Boy would not let his cybernetic companion hear the end of it. 

"Man, come on, this is so boring," he said as he directed traffic. "I mean, what are the others doing that's so important." 

"Probably saying good bye," Cyborg voiced, moving people along. "From what he told us, there's really no way to prepare." 

"We must have faced worse, what about Atlas, or the 'Master of Games?'" he wagged his fingers, to quote the guy with the medallion. "Are we really supposed to believe that this 'Moonfire' guy is any worse than that?" 

"Considering he's my brother," Sunfire said, dropping down behind him, "yes." 

"Eep!" Beast Boy fell over at the suddenness of Sunfire's arrival. "Dude, don't do that." 

"Please, allow me..." the golden-haired alien stepped forward, positioning his hands, two fingers up, the bottom two in the upper hand's palm. 

He swept both hands to the side, and, as he did so, the people in the city vanished. Cars were left empty, sidewalks devoid of pedestrians, and, one by one, motorcylces fell over, their riders gone. Green eyes opened to survey his handiwork, smiling lightly. 

"Where are they?" Cyborg asked, looking around. 

"They are safely removed to shelters and such that lie outside the city. It is all that I could do on such short notice. Jinx and Mammoth are with them." 

"I wish you could have done that earlier," Robin spoke as he walked over with Starfire in tow, and Raven's shadow moving along the ground. 

"I was busy," he looked over to Raven, who was standing beside him now. "They are coming closer." 

"They, I thought it was just him," the Titan leader said. 

"Kommand'r is with him." 

"Sister? But we all believed she was in prison," Starfire blurted, letting everyone know who Kommand'r was. 

"Apparently he believed otherwise," he said, moving to sit on a bench. "All we can do now...is wait." 

"Wish I had that gamestation portable right about now," Beast Boy quipped, sitting on a curb.

* * *

Moonfire and Blackfire passed by Saturn, at just the verge of sublight speed. For some reason this felt very, very wrong to the princess, these two coming together, to do what? She feared what would happen once they had reach Earth, and Sunfire. Certainly it would not be good. 

"What do you plan to do?" she asked her cloaked companion. "Do you think you can control him again?" 

"No, I don't plan to control him, he's progressed too much for that. Not that he'll shrug it off, it would greatly affect him, but it wouldn't have the effect that I want," he focused those pits of darkness he called eyes on her. "No, I have something far more 'permanent' in mind for he and I." 

Jupiter loomed into view, the massive gas giant exerting its gravitational pull on them, and failing. Moonfire was still smiling, imagining what he could do with all the power he was soon to acquire, there was so much. Perhaps he would destroy this pitiful galaxy and remake it; that was a thought, but it would take time, even with that power. Too much time. 

"What do you think they would do if we destroyed that planet?" he smirked to the girl beside him. 

"Just leave it and let's get going," she huffed, getting impatient. 

"You really are no fun, unless you get your way," he chuckled, speeding up. "Come on, or we'll miss the best part of the day."

* * *

It was extremely early in the morning now, and they continued to wait, occasionally glancing up to spot any sort of sign. Light was now beginning to appear on the horizon, sunrise was near. Sunfire glanced up at that, his brother had always had a slight flair for the dramatic, and that was what told him what was taking so long. 

"Is there a solar eclipse by any chance today?" he asked. 

"Yeah," Robin said, looking up from the paper in his hands. 

"Typical, the day the moon overpowers the sun," he sighed, "is the day I will come for you." 

"What are you saying?" Raven asked, he had been mumbling. 

"The day the moon overpowers the sun, that is the day I will come for you," he said, louder. "It is a line from an old Tamaranean story, of two houses at odds." 

"And...?" 

"They kill each other, but from those two comes a singular house that formed from the marriage of the two." 

"What does that mean here?" Cyborg asked. 

"Dunno." 

Starfire looked at him, she knew the story as well, and wondered if it perhaps fit into her own theory of him. If he was who she believed him to be, then all would be well, all would truly be right in the universe again. If she was wrong...well...she didn't want to think of what would happen if she was wrong. The two warring houses had been silenced by a final battle, which took placed during an eclipse. 

"The sun is rising, perhaps breakfast is in order?" he said. 

"Well, there's a diner right behind you, I'm sure the owner wouldn't mind us cooking up something for ourselves," Cyborg moved by him, opening the door and stepping inside. "So who wants what?" 

Each Titan took a seat eat the counter, looking at the menu. While it was obvious that breakfast foods were in order, none of them felt like that. Steak for Sunfire, tea for Raven, cereal for Starfire (I really don't count it as a breakfast food, since it can be eaten at all hours), a juicy burger for Robin, and a salad for Beast Boy. Cyborg cooked everything, and for himself, a massive meat platter. 

"I don't see why you won't share?" Sunfire said, after almost having his hand bitten off, trying to grab another steak. 

"Because I need all the protein I can get," Cyborg stated with a mouth full of food. 

"You could still part with one steak," the Tamaranean retorted, adding as an afterthought, "don't make me take it by less conventional means." 

"Fine, don't see why you couldn't just magic yourself one," the man-bot said, tossing a steak onto Sunfire's plate. 

"It's not magic, and because home cooked always tastes better," he reached for his knife and fork, but stopped mere millimeters from them. "They're here." 

An explosion rocked the city outside, casting up a great cloud, the shockwave breaking windows; the diner would have suffered the same fate had Sunfire not reinforced them. The Titans were quick to their feet, rushing outside. Sunfire took his time, sliding slowly off his stool, walking calmly through the door. The dust was settling, coating everything. That was all it was, dust, no chucks of debris, not huge slabs of asphalt, everything had been broken down to its basic form. 

Through the dust, between the two tall building across the street, the edge of a massive crater could be seen, flashing every few seconds with a streak of black lightening. On the edge of that crater stood two figures, one was Blackfire, the other was the cloaked Moonfire, his face still adequately covered. They began moving forward, towards the Titans, the street seeming to crack beneath Moonfire's feet, his cloak flying in the wind. 

Sunfire pushed through the group of teens in front of him, moving into the street. His hair was beginning to rise, the spikes becoming more defined, sharper, the tips turning a deep crimson. Fists clenched at his sides, arms hardly swinging as he took each calculated step forward. The scars on his back exploded into his wings, the feathered expanses folding around him. 

"Tal," Moonfire sibilant voice hissed out. 

"Shi'r," Sunfire responded. 

"We can do this without fighting, brother," the dark Tamaranean said, producing the orb from within his sleeve. "Simply place your hand on this, and all the pain will go away. Join with me, become who we once were...or suffer." 

"Suffer? What makes you think I'm the one who's going to suffer?" the golden-haired alien smirked. 

"Hmhm, you are suffering even now, but refuse," he held up a finger for emphasis, "and I will increase your pain a thousand fold." 

"I guess there's no other way," Sunfire slowly removed his forearm guard, revealing the twisted flesh of his arm, the hand changing as well. "Titans, I would have to suggest that you stay back." 

Moonfire slowly reached up, pushing his hood back, revealing his face to be the same as Sunfire's, but thinner, more gaunt. His hair was released, flowing in the wind, longer than his brother's. The clasp at his shoulder popped, and the black fabric was caught by the breeze, being carried away. His clothing was that of his brother's, only opposite; white tank top, black pants, opposite boots (for a picture, see fanart - central . net). His build seemed similar to Sunfire's as well, but it was, again, thinner, ribs actually showing through the tank top. Purely black eyes opened... 

...Just in time to see his brother's fist slam into his face, knocking him back towards the crater. He hit the ground, and bouncing slightly, but was forced back down by Sunfire's knee embedding itself into his gut. The alien took to the air, his hand pointed at the ground, fingers outstretched. 

"SOLAR FLARE!" he yelled, firing the massive wave of energy at the form on the ground. 

"LUNAR ECLIPSE!" hollered the sibilant voice of the man hidden in the dust. 

A black mass erupted from the cloud, slamming into the golden/red blast of Sunfire's. The two attacks seemed to cancel each other out, as both simply vanished at the moment of impact. Sunfire didn't stay in the air long, as he charged bock down, fist connecting with nothing as Moonfire nimbly dodged, loosing an offensive of his own. The mangled appendage that was his left hand smashing into Sunfire's face, blasting his back, passed Blackfire, passed the Titans, and into the building behind them, demolishing the storefront. 

Moonfire followed him, unleashing another attack on his brother, who countered with his own flurry of punches. Up they went, destroying floor after floor of the building, until Sunfire managed to grab his brother's wrist, and began spinning. Letting go, he sent Moonfire flying through the back of the building; he then reached out, changing the building across the street into chromozite. The dark alien slammed into it, causing an indent, then moved in time to avoid another Solar Flare. 

Sunfire flew after his brother, who seemed to be waiting high in the sky. He drew his Phoenix Blade, which was blocked by Moonfire's own sword, which was like Sunfire's own; except it was black, not red, and the jeweled eyes were blue, instead of green. They traded slashes, feints, parries and thrusts, blades aflame with red and black fire. Soon they were locked in a stalemate, blades pressed together, both using two hands, faces mere inches apart. Blades ground against the other, knowing one of them would have to give sooner or later. A quick move by Moonfire caused both swords to be whipped from their hand, and then he took full advantage of Sunfire's distracted attention. 

"LUNAR ECLIPSE!" he fired the black energy straight into his brother's chest, rocketing him towards the ground. 

And hit the ground he did, a ground changed into a massive slab of chromozite, which cracked, dropping him into the sewers below. 

"Sunfire!" Raven screamed, attempting to run to the hole, but she was grasped by Starfire. "Let me go!" 

"I cannot friend Raven," she responded placidly enough, but the magus could feel her shaking. "He asked us to remain out of this fight." 

"But we're a team, aren't we supposed to help even if he doesn't want it?" she asked her teammates, tears streaming down her face. 

"Believe me, Raven, we all want to help, but it would be pointless," Robin said; Raven could tell that the Titans' leader would have been the first to help, if he knew he could have done anything. "Those two are just beyond anything we've ever faced." 

She calmed a little, but the tears still flowed, and Starfire continued to hold her. "We need to move." 

A hail of black starbolts began to rain from the sky, all of them aimed at the hole, and the surrounding area. Explosions rocked the city, the ground beneath the Titans was beginning to crumble. Great clouds of dust were raised, the debris from the attack was being broken down, a result of Moonfire's starbolts. Through the rain of blasts, a single starbolt was launched from inside the hole, streaking up and striking Moonfire's hand, canceling the bolt he was about to loose. 

The rain stopped, and a twisted hand reached up to grab the rim of the hole. Sunfire pulled himself up, practically dragging himself onto the cracked and battered street. He coughed up some blood, and took notice of his torn and tattered shirt, also his ripped pants. Shakily he stood to his feet, and turned to watch as his brother descended. He took flight, the force of it causing the road to erupt where his feet had been. 

Moonfire was ready for Sunfire, reading his actions in the way he moved, as well as the passive thoughts he was picking up. He braced himself for the starbolt he knew his brother would use, and was just about to use his own. Surprise crossed his face as Sunfire launched two golden beams from his eyes, striking Moonfire in the chest. This gave him time to close his hand over a starbolt, and ram that fist into his gut, then bring his elbow down onto the back of the dark Tamaranean's head. 

"SOLAR FLARE!" he fired it straight into Moonfire's back, blasting him down into the street. 

As Sunfire floated down to street level, Moonfire was already getting up, wiping the blood from his lip. He was smiling, it wasn't long, he could see his brother struggling to stand. The Lunar Eclipse had taken much more out him than it had first appeared. Soon he would have no choice. Glancing behind him briefly, he saw that the Titans and Blackfire were not twenty feet away...good. 

"Collapse," he spoke under his breath, causing Blackfire to drop on the spot. 

As planned, Starfire ran to her sister's side, leaving Raven alone, and unprotected. 

"Moonfire, time to end this," Sunfire rushed him, starbolts flaring in his hands. 

Suddenly it was Raven in front of him, Moonfire's hand around her neck, thumb and forefinger on either side of her chin. He ground to a halt, releasing the twin golden spheres, struck dumb that his brother would do this. 

"Join with me, Tal, or she will die," he smirked, squeezing Raven's throat just a little more, "then you will have only one way to bring her back." 

Sunfire looked passed Raven at his brother, knowing what he said was true, memories were beginning to defog; memories of who he had been, who _they_ had been. He and Moonfire had once been one single entity, the name continued to escape him, but there was no doubt his brother knew. 

'/Sunfire, let it happen/' Raven's voice spoke in his mind. 

'/What, I can't...I won't let you die/' he responded. 

'/You have to, don't worry/' her voice was soothing, full of the love that she dare not voice openly. 

"Come now, make your decision," Moonfire taunted, tightening his grip just a tiny bit more, silence was his response. "Fine." 

A twist of his wrist, and Raven's neck was snapped, and he dropped her to the ground, her eyes lifeless. Sunfire fell to his knees, watching his dark angel die. The Titans stood in shocked silence, the sight of Raven's fallen body just about too much for them to take. Only one thing stopped them from attacking, they couldn't move, Sunfire was keeping them where they were. 

"Alright," Sunfire forced out, it was just slightly above a whisper. 

"Excellent," Moonfire summoned the orb to him, and strode over to his brother, holding it out to him. "Open it." 

The golden-haired alien reached up and grasped the top half, twisted, and pulled it away, allowing a blue light to shine. Deep blue particles began to rise and hover above the orb, which Moonfire placed on the ground, kneeling as well. His hands raised and were placed on his brother's face, Sunfire did the same. As their foreheads touched, the half of the orb on the ground exploded with light that enveloped them. At that moment, from Sunfire, a multitude of Ravens burst forth, circling the glowing ball of blue light, slowly moving back towards it. 

As they were reabsorbed into the light, it began to recede. From the side, the tips of four wings began to appear, the upper two were golden, feathered, while the lower were black, and draconian. The light then burst to reveal the one within it. 

He appeared to be a combination of Sunfire and Moonfire, but there were also parts that were from neither of them. Standing about Cyborg's height, his long, silvery hair hung straight, resting about ankle length. The tank top was gone, replaced with two shirts, one was a very deep blue, while the outer was slightly lighter. The forearm guards of Sunfire were there, as well as the boots, though the brown was now blue, and the gold was silver. From beneath his hair, one either side of his neck, were two groups of hair, one was gold, the other was black. His eyes opened, the whites were black, and the iris was gold. 

"Sapphire," Starfire squeaked in awe...she had been right. 

He slowly turned to them, blue, gold, and black lightening dancing around him, running from him up the sides of the buildings, rebuilding them. As he walked toward the fallen Raven, the street began to change from chromozite back to asphalt, and the cracks were sealing. He knelt beside Raven, slipping his hand beneath her head and propping it up, he lightly kissed her forehead, right at the hairline. Reaching up with his other hand, he plucked one gold strand, one black strand, and one silver strand of his hair. He placed the three hairs where he had kissed her, and felt them bond. His hand was then placed over his chest, and when he removed it, there was a glowing black ball in it, which was then held over Raven's chest, until it was absorbed into her. 

Standing, he lifted her with him, and carried her over to the still paralyzed Titans, though now they were paralyzed in shock and awe. He placed her in Starfire's arms. 

"Take her back to the Tower, I will be back later with a friend," he said in a very calm, cool voice (like Sesshomaru's voice). With that said, he slipped into the ground. 

"Starfire, who was that?" Robin asked, looking down at Raven, who was beginning to breathe again. 

"Talshi'r Sapphire," she stated, cradling her friend. "He is...the most powerful Tamaranean to ever live." 

"Sunfire?" Raven moaned, stirring slightly in Starfire's arms. 

Everyone turned to stare Raven, eyes the size of saucers, not really believing that they had just heard that. Well, everyone except Starfire, she knew what Sapphire was, what he could do, and she knew that everything would be all right now.

* * *

Sapphire emerged in Terra's chamber, walking over to the still restrained girl. He placed his hand on his chest, pulling away to reveal the golden ball in it, and placed it against Terra. 

Then an idea hit him, his appearance changed, becoming that of Sunfire, only with silver hair, and the two tendrils of hair on either side of his neck. His shirts combined, becoming a black tank top, and his boots changed into Sunfire's as well. He felt that Terra would rather be in the presence of her teacher, rather than a stranger. 

Now he placed the golden orb inside her, and the change was almost instantaneous. The cold stone became flesh, hair, and clothing; soon she would be awake. The restraints still binding her vanished, and she fell against him, he placed his arms around her. Her eyes opened, and she looked up into those green eyes that were so familiar. 

"SUNFIRE!" she screamed, hugging him tightly, tears streaming from her blue eyes. "What happened?" 

"You don't remember?" he asked. "You sacrificed yourself to stop the volcano, and I placed back the energy you expelled." 

"But, I thought I had died" she continued to bury her tearful face in his tank top. 

"You did, sort of," he said, trying to find the right way to explain it. "Your essence, your soul, was gone, but I had a copy of it inside my mind, so I placed that into you."

* * *

Sunfire and Terra appeared outside of Titans' Tower, much as they had so long ago, or at least it felt like it was a long time ago. Walking up to the door, they entered, walking down the entrance hall that was so familiar. They stepped into the elevator and were soon on their way up. 

"Déjà vu," Terra said with a slight giggle, Sunfire chuckled along. "Did you change your hair?" 

"Yes, do you like it?" he said somewhat hesitantly. 

The elevator doors opened, and they stepped into the common room, where everyone was waiting, watching TV. Raven was not there, but that was okay, he knew she was safe. The Titans were soon up, crowding around them, Beast Boy immediately latched onto Terra, pulling her into a literal bear hug. Robin got Sunfire away from the group, he wanted to talk. 

"The city fixed itself, was that your doing, Sapphire?" he asked. 

"Hm, yes, it was, all damage done to this planet by Sunfire and Moonfire has been fixed," Sapphire/Sunfire said, sitting at the kitchen table. "I have chosen to remain as Sunfire, if only for Raven and Terra, so I would like you to address me as him, is that alright, Robin?" 

"Yes, but what about Moonfire, won't he try to take control?" 

"Moonfire is content on having accomplished his mission, he will not bother you," Sunfire said as he ran his hand through his now silver hair. "Raven and Blackfire are in the infirmary, yes?" 

"Yeah, we brought Blackfire because Starfire wouldn't leave her. We have her restrained, but I don't think she's going to be waking up anytime soon," Robin sat down as well. "Raven just started breathing, how did you do that." 

"I'll tell you some other time, it is somewhat hard to explain," he looked over at the approaching group, knowing that Terra would take the seat next to him. 

"Sure." 

TBC 

There we go, all done with this chapter, just one more to go. For anyone interested, there is a picture of Sapphire on fanart-central . com. The spaces are needed, sadly, otherwise won't show it. I have a gallery there under Nate Sindel, it's the only Sindel there, so you shouldn't have trouble finding me. 


	13. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.

You should know the drill by now, reviews on one hand, blah blah blah. I believe it would be safe to assume that, to a select few, this story may have actually seemed review worthy, but, to the majority, you're just waiting for me to end it. Well, here you go, it'll finally be over, since so many of you don't want me to continue. None of you read this anyway, so what's the point.

The Titan

By Nate Sindel

Epilogue

* * *

Sunfire walked down the hall to the infirmary, wanting to see Raven's progress. His silver hair bounced lightly with each stride, causing the gold and black strands the swing. It had been a very long time since he had performed that particular technique, since it was only possible as Sapphire. In his current form it would be futile to attempt, since he was not Sapphire at the moment.

"It would be simpler," he said to himself, "if it were that simple."

'Nothing ever is,' he heard Moonfire's voice in his mind.

'Not when it comes to us,' Sapphire chuckled.

Reaching the infirmary, Sunfire was unsurprised to see Blackfire strapped down to her bed. He knew Robin would be taking every precaution, even if they weren't necessary. There was something about the Tamaranean princess, something different from the last time he saw her, besides that she was older.

"Oh, my little bun'gor, what has life done to you?" he whispered, moving closer to her bed. His hand reached out, but jerked as he felt the tingling of a force field, though it didn't stop his hand.

Gently he touched her hair, slipping his fingers beneath her head, that's where he felt it, the small piece of metal. Nimble fingers closed around it, sharpening nails dug beneath it, slowly pulling off the small hooks holding it to her skin.

"Sunfire, what are you doing?" Robin asked as he entered.

"Removing something that doesn't belong," he replied, tugging the device from her skin, and healing the small hole it left.

The straps holding her down snapped open, retracting back into their slots. He felt Robin tense when he did this, but ignored it mostly. His hand rested on Blackfire's forehead, sliding it along her hairline. There was so much pain in this girl's life, so much jealousy, resentment, and all because he hadn't been there for her.

"Citadel technology," he tossed the object to Robin, who looked at it curiously. "I should have realized it sooner."

"What's that?"

"An organization bent on galactic conquest by any means necessary."

"Aren't they all?"

"Funny, but true, even the Gordanians are on the Citadel's payroll," he seethed upon speaking that word.

"Starfire spoke of them once, but who are they?"

"Basically they are the Citadel's private army, but even they have their own agenda," Sunfire moved away from Blackfire's bed, walking over to Raven, immediately noticing the change in her hair. From just above her jewel, the gold and black hair had grown and multiplied. "Good, she'll wake up soon."

"Sapphire, what happened, how did you bring her back to life?"

"These hairs symbolize life-" he held up the gold "-death-" he held up the black "-and resurrection," he pointed to the silver. "When the powers of each are combined as one, and I contain a copy the receiver's essence, it will leave me and reenter them."

"How many times have you done this?"

"Four, counting Raven, but all the others were Tamaraneans, I wasn't sure if it would work on her," he lightly brushed at the hairs on Raven's head, causing them to shrink and take on the shape her hair usually took.

A soft moan escaped the sleeping Raven, causing the two males to stop their conversation. Sunfire continued to stroke her cheek with the back of his fingers, turning back to Robin.

"Will she have similar powers to yourself?" the masked teen asked.

"No," he said, "but she will have wings."

* * *

"What was it like?" Beast Boy asked Terra as they sat on the couch.

"What was what like?" she responded, not really wanting to talk about "it".

"Being stone."

"I don't know, it was like I wasn't even there, like I did exist anymore. It's hard to explain, like I was everywhere, and nowhere, could see everything, but there was nothing," she pulled her knees up to her chest, feeling cold. "I...I don't really want to talk about it."

Beast Boy's expression softened as he placed his arm around her, pulling her closer. Terra took the hint and laid her head on his shoulder, scooting closer.

"It's okay, if you want, we'll never talk about it again."

"That would be best."

The green shape-shifter grabbed the remote next to him and turned on the TV, just catching the news broadcast about the recent events. The anchorman was talking about how no one was sure what happened, and that the Titans were, at the moment, unreachable for a statement. He then lobbed it over to the weatherman.

* * *

The sun rose the next day, casting its light on the lone figure of Sunfire, standing on the Tower roof. His four wings were spread open, catching the solar energy for day's activities. Since reviving Raven, he had been feeling slightly weak, slow, and knew that it was just his stores of solar power needing to be recharged.

Two arms encircled him from behind, and a head rested against his back, between his wings. He felt something different this time, something slightly off, something was brushing against his wings. They felt like feaths made of the softest silk, and that's exactly what they were.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"Your memory opened in my mind for that instant, it showed me everything," Raven said, tightening her grasp about his middle. "So what do I call you?"

"Sunfire is fine," he turned to face her, opening special pores on the back of his wings to catch the sunlight. "And you, is it still Raven, or am I allowed to call you Metrion?"

"Raven around the others, Metrion when we're alone," she whispered, stepping up to tiptoes to quickly kiss him.

Sunfire looked at her for the first time after that, seeing the newly grown lock of silver hair just above her jewel, and the violet-feathered wings sprouting from her back. Due to her new appendages, she wasn't wearing her cloak at the moment, but that didn't matter to him. A hand raised slowly, running long the feathers of her wings, feeling how soft they were; he felt her shudder from the sensation.

"Why didn't you simply join with Moonfire?" Raven asked, it was the question that Sunfire did not want to answer.

"It had to be done this way," he turned away slightly from her, "otherwise I would not have become Talshi'r, but someone else."

"An evil entity?"

"One to put even Trigon to shame," he said, using her father's name for the first time, and noticing the reaction in Raven. "You haven't told them about him yet?"

"They don't need to know," Raven stated firmly. "Not yet."

"Very well, you can tell them when you're ready," he smiled and placed his arm around her, both turning to face the morning sun.

* * *

Elsewhere in Jump City, Jump City Maximum Security Prison to be exact, sat a masked man, clutching at his head, groaning in pain. All of a sudden, the pain stopped, and he raised his head, looking at the flaming mark on the wall. A voice exploded in his head, one that commanded respect and radiated with the very essence of evil.

"Serve me, and the pain will be gone forever!" the voice echoed in his head. "A message must be delivered!"

"Very well," Slade said, standing in the middle of his cell and closing a fist, which was soon engulf in flames.

The cell door blew open, and the guards outside incinerated. Slade Wilson, Deathstroke the Terminator, stepped out of his cell, and began walking down the hall, heat radiating from his back.

"The time is almost near, the prophecy must be fulfilled," he spoke to no one.

THE END

That's it, the end, finally, I am going to simply wrap it up with a final cliffhanger, and so long. I had fun with this fic, but here's where it stops, I need to work on other things, other stories need to be tended to and/or finished. Others need to be started, and others continued. I suppose a sequel might be written, but not unless the majority wishes it.


End file.
